单词 | tweedle- |
释义 | tweedle-comb. form 1. the stem of tweedle v.1, employed in combination with other elements (see below) to denote the action of the verb, or a high-pitched musical sound; chiefly in the humorous phrase tweedledum and tweedledee n. in the earliest example used in reference to two rival musicians (whence the figurative sense: see 2); tweedledee and tweedledum (also tweedle-dum), used to suggest the contrast or combination of the sounds of high- and low-pitched musical instruments; hence in quot. 1792 attributive = musical (obsolete); tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum, a high-, or a low-pitched instrument, or one who plays it; in quots. 1806, 1806, a fiddler (obsolete); tweedle-tweedle, the action or practice of tweedling; music, harmony (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > instrumentalist > [noun] player?c1450 sounder1591 instrumentist1609 twire-pipea1625 tweedle-dee1725 tweedle-dum1725 instrumental1798 instrumentalist1814 tudeler1814 1725 Byrom Handel & Bononcini in Poems (1773) I. 344 Strange all this Difference should be, 'Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee! 1769 Trinculo's Trip 47 Squeeking fife and rumbling drum, Tweedle dee—and tweedle dum. ?a1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 203 He taks the Fiddler by the beard, An' draws a roosty rapier—..Wi' ghastly e'e, poor Tweedledee Upon his hunkers bended. 1786 J. Wolcot Bozzy & Piozzi 70 Great in the noble art of tweedle-tweedle. 1792 ‘P. Pindar’ Tears of St. Margaret (new ed.) 5 No longer on the tweedle-dum account..Those men of taste and music joyful greet. 1804 J. Collins (title) Scripscrapologia; or Collins's doggerel dish of all sorts. Consisting of songs..which may be sung without..the ravishing accompaniments of tweedle-dum or tweedle-dee. 1805 A. Grant Let. 16 May in Mem. & Corr. (1844) I. 59 Two hours of tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee were too much for me. 1806 C. Lamb Let. 5 Dec. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1976) II. 248 Mary & I are to sit next the orchestra in the pit, next the Tweedle-Dees. 1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times II. 288 Two ordinary violin players..quarrelled..to such a pitch, that each tweedle-dum offered the opposing tweedle-dee, to play him for his whole year's salary. 2. figurative, usually in phrase tweedledee and tweedledum, two things or parties the difference between which is held to be insignificant. Also attributive. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [noun] > two similar things tweedledee and tweedledum1853 1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists v. 237 Swift could not see the difference between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. 1871 J. O. Brookfield Influence I. 76 Do you believe in tweedledee or in tweedledum? 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. x. 218 To the ears of Mopsy and Dopsy it was all tweedledum, and tweedledee. 1885 Spectator 24 Jan. 119/2 By no effort of the mind can we separate tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Sept. 2/2 The general public need have no special objection to half-pay officers and local Bumbles spending their superfluous time and money in Tweedledum and Tweedledee quarrels. 1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 850 The political instinct..which leads Lord Randolph..to discover a Tory Tweedledee for the Radical Tweedle~dum. 1911 Christian Endeavour Times 10 Aug. 724/1 A..war of words over tweedledees of subtle doctrinal differences and tweedledums of Church polity. Derivatives tweedle-dee v. Brit. , U.S. (intransitive) to play or sing in a high-pitched tone; also, to play idly; to tweedle.ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > perform music [verb (intransitive)] > specific style or technique descanta1450 to stay on1579 to run division1590 divide1609 shake1611 flourish1766 tweedle-dee1837 slide1864 Wagnerize1866 to break a chord1879 magadize1904 scoop1927 segue1958 rap1979 rhyme1979 scratch1982 society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > sound [verb (intransitive)] > shrilly peepa1500 tweedle1684 tweedle-dee1837 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. i. vi. 53 While right-arms here grew weary with slaying, right-arms there were twiddledeeing on melodious catgut. 1873 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) I. 299 A sandy-haired German tenor tweedledeeing over the unspeakable woes of Sigurd! This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2019). < |
随便看 |
英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。