| 释义 |
cutthroat, cut-throat|ˈkʌtθrəʊt|
[See cut v. 65.]
1. a. One who cuts throats; a ruffian who murders or does deeds of violence; a murderer or assassin by profession.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 449 Thir cankerit cut⁓throttis of crudelitie. 1694tr. Milton's Lett. State May an. 1658, Those sanctifi'd Cut-throats. 1793Ld. Auckland's Corr. III. 109 A corps franc, raised on the frontiers of Hungary..I never saw such a set of desperate cut-throats. 1889Froude Chiefs Dunboy xxv. 380, I am a soldier, sir, and not a cut-throat.
b. transf. and fig.
1583Babington Commandm. x. (1637) 93 It is the very tryed cut-throat of all amity, friendship, etc. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme vii. xxix. 855 There is no greater a cut-throte to dogs than the wild bore. 1878W. Black Goldsmith xii. 102 A paid libeller and cut-throat of public reputations.
c. Used attrib. or ellipt. of several games of chance, esp. of a three-handed card game in which one or more players score individually rather than in partnership. orig. U.S.
1823I. Holmes Acct. U.S. 353, I have seen at least twenty boys surrounding a billiard table, playing at a sort of game of chance they call cut-throat. 1868All Year Round 31 Oct. 489/2 It is not uncommon, therefore, to see merchants (especially American) having a social game of ‘cut-throat monte’, ‘eucre’, or ‘poker’, with piles of gold before them. 1870J. C. Duval Big-foot Wallace 247 As soon as I can learn to play poker and cut-throat loo. 1904E. A. Tennant ABC of Bridge (ed. 4) 100 Cut-Throat Bridge. Though the above is the simplest way of playing three-handed Bridge, Cut-Throat has great attractions for some people. 1932E. Waugh Black Mischief vii. 257 Anstruther, Legge and William were playing cut-throat bridge.
d. Used attrib. or absol. of a razor consisting of a blade set in a handle, as distinguished from a safety-razor.
1932D. L. Sayers Have His Carcase i. 18 At the cost of a slight cut on her finger, she drew up an open cut-throat razor. 1957J. Frame Owls do Cry 75 The old lather-up and the strop and the cut-throat razor for him. 1959Sunday Times 22 Feb. 29/3 The advent of the safety-razor..happily put an end to my first clumsy essays with the open cut-throat.
†2. A kind of fire-arm; cf. murderer. Obs.
1566in Thomson Invent. (1815) 169 (Jam.) Item, sex cutthrottis of irne with their mekis. 1567Sempill Ballads (1872) 2 Cunning of crosbow cutthrot and culuering.
†3. A dark lantern. Obs.
1783Bailey, Cut-throat, also a kind of lantern. 1825Jamieson, Cut-throat, a dark lantern or bowet..so constructed that the light may be completely obscured, when..necessary for the perpetration of any criminal act.
4. The Mustang grape of Texas, having an acrid taste.
Century Dict. refers to Sportsman's Gazetteer.
5. a. More fully cut-throat finch: a bird-fancier's name for Amadina fasciata, the Red-collared Bengaly of Swainson, a small West African bird, the male of which has a red mark round the throat.[Here cut is the pa. pple. qualifying throat.] 1872Revised List Vertebr. Anim. Zool. Gard. 137 Cut-throat Finch. 1873Spectator 22 Feb. 240/1 Here are ‘Cut-throats’, the male with a murderous red mark round his soft neck, the female without it. 1891Bazaar 20 Feb., Cut-throats, silver bills, waxbills..spice birds, Java sparrows.
b. In full cut-throat trout: see quots.
1891Cent. Dict., Cutthroat trout, the Rocky Mountain brook-trout. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 163/2 The father of all the Pacific trout, the black-spotted or ‘Cut-throat’ (Salmo mykiss) with the scarlet splotch on his lower jaw. 1946Mazama Dec. 33/2 Steelhead trout and sea-run cut-throat trout provide capital sport for fishermen.
6. attrib. That is, or has the character of, a cutthroat or assassin; of or pertaining to cutthroats; murderous, ruffianly. Also transf.
Cut-throat Lane, a frequent local appellation of a lonely lane.
1567Drant Hor. Epist. vi. D ij, A cut throte rutterkin. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 112 You call me misbeleeuer, cut-throate dog. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Cut-Throat Place, an Inn or Tavern, where People are exacted upon. 1848W. Armstrong Stocks 31 [Harlem rail road stock] is generally considered to be most essentially a ‘cut-throat stock’. 1874G. W. Dasent Half a Life II. 110 A cut-throat lonely place. 1881Bradstreet's 16 Apr. 237/4 The three great objects..are..to avoid cut-throat competition. 1886Pall Mall G. 24 Nov. 12/1 Cut-throat competition is not for gentlemen. 1903Westm. Gaz. 17 Jan. 3/1 The wide valley of the Po, where, in nine months of the year, the cut-throat tramontana is a frequent visitant. 1914W. B. Yeats Responsibilities 35 A cloud blown from the cut-throat north. 1938E. Waugh Scoop i. v, It's going to be a tough assignment from all I hear. Cut-throat competition.
7. Comb., as cutthroat-like adj.
1611Cotgr., Meurtrierement, murtherously, cruelly, cut⁓throat-like.
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈcut-throat v. trans., to cut the throat of. ˈcut-throatry, -ery, practice proper to a cutthroat. ˈcut-throatish, ˈcut-throaty adjs., pertaining or proper to a cut-throat.
a1625Beaumont & Fl. Laws of Candy iv. ii, Money..Is now a god on earth. It..Bribes Justice, cut-throats Honour. 1606Wily Beguiled in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 229 For to let my house before my lease be out, is cut-throatery. 1870Echo 15 Dec., They look more cut-throatish than ever. 1660R. Coke Justice Vind. 32 If God made man..as he [Mr. Hobbs] saies, in such a cut-throatty condition. |