| 释义 |
dead leg, n. Brit. and Irish English.
Brit. |ˈdɛd lɛg|, U.S. |ˈdɛd ˌlɛg| in sense 3 also Brit. |ˌdɛd ˈlɛg|, U.S. |ˈdɛd ˈˌlɛg|
Forms: 19– dead leg, 19– dead-leg, 19– deadleg[sense 2]
[‹ dead adj. + leg n.]
1. Plumbing. A length of pipe between a hot-water cylinder and a hot tap, in which standing water cools when the tap is off, wasting water and energy.
1953D. G. E. Axford Low Pressure Hot Water Heating ii. i. 55 Local water regulations invariably set a limit to the length of dead legs. 1982E. Hall David & Charles Man. Home Plumbing v. 98/2 Dead legs should be as short as possible and the storage cylinder should be situated close to the hot tap which is in most constant use. 1998This Caring Business Feb. 2/3 [An] engineering consultant who will quote DO8 at you, HS (G) TO, deadlegs and mixer valves.
2. slang. Usu. in form deadleg. An idle or worthless person; a dead-beat, a ‘loser’.
1964A. Prior Z Cars Again iv. 30, I don't mind dealing with villains, tealeaves and general deadlegs all day. 1977J. Rosenthal Spend, Spend, Spend in Bar Mitzvah Boy & Other Television Plays (1987) 169 You'll get your beer and Woodbines, you bloody deadleg! I won't see you short. 1990‘J. Gash’ Very Last Gambado (1991) xv. 132 A film team made up of deadlegs plodding through the undefined screenplay of a failed writer is heading for certain ruin, no? 1995Guardian 22 Dec. ii. 20/2 Fleck is an emotional deadleg, a compulsive labeller and filer.
3. colloq. A temporarily numb and weak leg, usually one deliberately caused by a kick or blow, esp. of a person's knee to another's thigh. Freq. in to give (a person) a dead leg. Cf. dead-leg v.
1987Grimsby Evening Tel. 1 Dec. 14/1 Striker Marc North came off with a deadleg, as did utility man Ian Toale, whose groin also began hurting again. 1993R. Doyle Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1994) 4, I got Sinbad back for it; I gave him a dead leg. 2001P. Marber Howard Katz 32 They'd steal my bag, hit me, gimme a dead leg, you know? |