| 释义 |
top drawer
top drawer n people of the highest standing, esp socially (esp in the phrase out of the top drawer) top′ drawer′
n. the highest level in status, excellence, or importance. [1900–05] top′-drawer′, adj. top drawer
top drawerOf or having the highest quality, skill, value, importance, or rank. Hyphenated if used before a noun. That performance from Bueler in the last round really was top drawer. Ever since he got that promotion, Tom's taken to drinking only top-drawer liquor when we go out.See also: drawer, toptop drawerOf the highest quality, importance, or rank, as in The musicians in this pick-up orchestra were top drawer. It probably alludes to the uppermost drawer in a bureau or chest, where the most valuable objects (such as jewelry) are usually kept. [c. 1900] See also: drawer, toptop-drawer mod. top-quality. I want to hire a young MBA who’s top-drawer. top drawerOf the highest quality or rank. The term alludes to the uppermost drawer of a bureau or dresser, where jewelry and other valuables often are kept. It was transferred to mean high social standing or first quality about 1900. It is the former that Ngaio Marsh referred to in Colour Scheme (1943): “He’s not out of the top drawer, of course.”The cliché may now be obsolescent.See also: drawer, toptop drawerHighest quality. The 19th-century practice of keeping jewelry and other valuables in the highest drawer of a bedroom dresser gave rise to this phrase, which was applied both to people and to things. “First rate” is a similar phrase, as is “varsity,” meaning a person figuratively sufficiently admirable to qualify for the starting team.See also: drawer, topThesaurusSeetop-drawer |