| 释义 |
† ˈcounterˌtail Obs.
Also countre-, countir-, -taille, -taile, -tayle.
[a. OF. contretaille the opposite half or duplicate of a tally: cf. next.]
1. The opposite half of a tally; a tally or score kept to check another.
c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 71 Þi reckenyng bi tyme bisili þou make, Or þe deuel bringe þe countirtaile. a1500Piers of Fullham 204 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 9 Hys paymentes ben scored on the countertayle. 1570Levins Manip. 199/11 A countretayle, anticopa. 1617[see countertally].
2. A counter-stroke.
c1430Lydg. Bochas vi. iii. (1554) 149 b, Agayn the malice, to make a countertaile Of proude Silla, the malice eft tassayle. 1436Pol. Poems (1859) II. 174 The countertayles Of oure enmyes.
3. at the countertail: in reply, in retort.
c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 1134 Folweth Ekko that holdeth no silence, But euere answereth at the countretaille. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (1840) 130 Alweys at the Countre⁓taile Theyr [wives] tunge clappithe and dothe hewe. |