| 释义 |
▪ I. cuddle, v.|ˈkʌd(ə)l|
[A dialectal or nursery word of uncertain derivation.
Possibly a derivative of couth a. in the sense ‘snug, cosy’: cf. fondle from fond adj. An original *couthle might become cuddle, as in ME. fiðele, fithel, now fiddle, the vowel being also shortened before the consonant group. (Close connexion with the ME. cudde, cuþþed, pa. tense of cuðen, kythe, ‘to make known, refl. to make themselves known, become friends together’, is not tenable, because u was here = ü, OE. y, as seen in Ormin's spelling kiþþed.) Another suggestion is that it is related to Du. kudden ‘coire, convenire, congregari, aggregari’ (Kilian), f. kudde flock, herd:—OLG. *kuddi = OHG. chutti. Further evidence as to its early use is wanted, there being at present known only one doubtful example before 1700.]
1. trans. To press or draw close within the arms, so as to make warm and ‘cosy’; to hug or embrace affectionately, to fondle; also absol.
c1520Song in Rel. Ant. I. 239 Cudlyng of my cowe. 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 28 'Twas playing with her at Cuddle my Cuddy. 1789Burns 2 Ep. Davie ii, Till bairns' bairns kindly cuddle Your auld gray hairs. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Cuddle, to hug and fondle. 1825Brockett N.C. Words, Cuddle, to embrace, to squeeze, to hug. 1863Kingsley Water Bab. v. 219 Little boys..who have kind mammas to cuddle them.
fig.1851Thackeray Eng. Hum. i. (1876) 148 Temple seems ..to have been coaxed, and warmed, and cuddled by the people round about him. Ibid. ii. 193 Cuddling to his heart the compliment which his literary majesty had paid him.
b. to cuddle up: to arrange comfortably.
1743H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann (1834) I. lxxxiv. 296 Mamie herself could not have cuddled up an affair for his Sovereign Lady better.
c. to cuddle out of: to coax or wheedle out of.
1808C. K. Sharpe Corr. (1888) I. 336 To cuddle his mother out of her money.
2. intr. To lie close and snug; to nestle in to another person, to cling close together for warmth or comfort. (Often with extension; see quots.)
1711E. Ward Quix. I. 158 Who would in Spite of Wedlock Run To Cuddle with the Emp'rour's Son. 1718Prior The Dove 55 She [a partridge] cuddles low behind the brake. 1727Somerville Fab. xi. (R.), They bill'd, they chirp'd all day, They cuddled close all night. 1888W. Somerset Word-bk., Two children lying very close together in bed would be said to be cuddled together. Again, chickens are said to cuddle in under the hen.
b. To curl oneself up in going to sleep; hence, to lie down to sleep. (Also refl.)
1822Galt Sir A. Wylie I. x. 76 Whar am I to cuddle. 1847Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole vii. (1879) 65 Many a shining-coated insect cuddled itself up within the little tents thus made. 1888E. Custer Tenting on Plains, He [a tame beaver] cuddles up under my gown, or on my arm, and goes to sleep.
c. fig.
1810T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 146 The nest of office being too small for all of them to cuddle into at once. 1864Lovell Fireside Trav. 287 A pretty little village, cuddled down among the hills.
Hence ˈcuddling vbl. n.
1880Webb Goethe's Faust iv. xvii. 232 The kissing and cuddling that went on!
▪ II. cuddle, n.|ˈkʌd(ə)l|
[f. prec. vb.]
1. A hug or embrace.
1825Song in Brockett N.C. Words s.v., So then, wiv a kiss and a cuddle, These lovers they bent their ways heym. 1870R. B. Brough Marston Lynch xxix. 309 Instead of a rebuke..he received only a tight cuddle round the neck.
2. Comb. cuddle seat (see quot.); cuddle skirt, a skirt made of thick, soft material.
1947Britannica Bk. of Yr. 1946 840/2 Cuddle seat, a contrivance for carrying small children, consisting of a seat hung from a strap slung over the shoulder. It was introduced by Australian war brides. 1958J. Cannan And be a Villain i. 8 She had put on her new oatmeal ‘cuddle’ skirt. 1961Sunday Express 5 Mar. 11 Wool and cashmere cuddle-skirt. |