| 释义 |
▪ I. spiracle1|ˈspaɪərək(ə)l|
Also 4 spyrakle, 5 -acle.
[ad. L. spīrācul-um spiraculum. So older F. spiracle, F. spiracule, It. spiracolo, -aculo, Sp. and Pg. espiraculo.]
†1. Breath, spirit. Obs.
Orig. after L. spiraculum vitae in Gen. ii. 7, vii. 22.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 408 Þenne mourkne in þe mudde most ful nede Alle þat spyrakle in-spranc. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. iii. (1495) 50 A soule is lyke to god a spiracle of lyfe. Ibid. 51 Oracliphīcus [sic] callyth the soule lyghte other a spyrancle [sic] of beynge. 1607B. Barnes Devil's Charter iv. ii, A bastard of our house,..In whom no sparke or spiracle of honor Appear'd. 1640G. Wats Bacon's Adv. Learn. iv. iii. 207 We will stile that part of the generall knowledge concerning mans soule, the knowledge of the spiracle, or inspired substance. 1654Vilvain Theorem. Theol. Suppl. 261 Into which [body] he breathed the Spiracle or Spirit of Life.
2. A small opening by which a confined space has communication with the outer air; esp. an air-hole or air-shaft.
1620tr. Boccaccio's Decam. 126 A cave..which received no light into it, but by a small spiracle or ventloope made out ingeniously on the hills side. 1661Evelyn Fumifugium Misc. Writ. (1825) i. 220 Salt and sope boylers,..one of whose Spiracles does manifestly infect the aer more than all the chimnies of London. 1760–72tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 472 There must have been here and there vent-holes, or spiracles. 1851Hawthorne Ho. Sev. Gables i, The seven gables..presented the aspect of a whole sisterhood of edifices, breathing through the spiracles of one great chimney. 1856J. Stevenson Ch. Historians Eng. IV. ii. 437 On splitting a vast rock..there appeared two dogs, but without any spiracle whatever.
fig.1827Scott Napoleon Misc. Wks. 1870 XIV. 326 The least spiracle, by which the voice of France could find its way to the ears of her sovereign.
b. spec. An opening in the ground affording egress to subterranean vapours or fiery matter; a volcanic vent-hole.
1671R. Bohun Wind 27 Wind, out of some cavityes and spiracles of the Earth. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. (1723) 151 The Camini or Spiracles of ætna. 1751G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists iii. (1754) 120 Some Spiracles, or breathing Holes, in many Parts of the Earth, which scatter a pestilential Infection upon all that come near. 1762tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. I. 216 The clefts and chasms which were the spiracles or outlets to those dreadful eructations. 1828H. D. Beste Italy 399 Other spiracles of mephitic might probably be found here. 1833Herschel Astron. v. 209 Powerful upward currents of the [sun's] atmosphere, arising, perhaps, from spiracles in the body. 1869J. Phillips Vesuv. viii. 209 A level place surrounded by fiery heights, having numerous chimney-like spiracles.
fig.1833Carlyle Misc. Ess., Diderot, The subterranean fire..was here, we can say, forming itself a decided spiracle.
3. a. A pore of the skin. rare.
1650H. Brooke Conserv. Health 143 It [exercise] discusses Vapors and fuliginous excrements by the pores or Spiracles of the skin. 1837Morier Abel Allnutt xxxii. 188 The steam and fumes of the dinner..acting violently upon the spiracles of the skin belonging to the attendants.
b. A breathing-pore in the epidermis of plants; a stoma. rare.
a1774Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) II. 108 This undulation is very manifest in the spiracles of many plants viewed with the microscope. 1867H. Macmillan Bible Teach. iii. (1870) 56 The whole stem being succulent and covered with spiracles or air-holes, thus acting as lungs along with the leaves.
c. Zool. A special aperture, orifice, or pore, chiefly in lower forms of animal life, by which respiration is effected.
1775Phil. Trans. LXVI. 214 The torpedo..loosens the sands by flapping its fins, till its whole body, except the spiracles, is buried. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 716/1 The teeth [of the saw-fish] are granulated;..and the spiracles five. 1816Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxi. (1818) II. 251 From a small hole just above each spiracle, [the insect] syringes a similar fluid in horizontal jets. 1847Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 234 Prothoracic spiracle in most cases free and uncovered. 1882Entomol. Mag. Mar. 220 A broad..stripe runs just above the spiracles, which are black.
transf.1854De Quincey War Wks. 1862 IV. 286 The great phenomenon of war..keeps open in man a spiracle—an organ of respiration.
d. The blow-hole of a whale or other cetacean (and of certain sharks).
1796Burke Let. to Noble Lord Wks. VIII. 35 His whale⁓bone, his blubber, the very spiracles through which he spouts a torrent of brine against his origin. 1849Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia III. 146 The spiracle, or blow-hole, is a single orifice of a semicircular form, on the top of the head, directly over the eyes. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ 192 A whale can no more force water through its spiracle or blow-hole than you or I through our nostrils.
▪ II. ˈspiracle2 rare—1.
[f. spire n.1 8.]
A little spire; a pinnacle.
1842Tait's Mag. IX. 636/1 The fine old cathedral, with its eager crowds bending over buttress and spiracle. |