| 释义 |
perch
I. \ˈpərch, -ə̄-, -əi-\ noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English perche, from Old French, from Latin pertica pole, staff, measuring stick; probably akin to Greek ptorthos young branch, shoot, Armenian ort' vine, grapevine
1.
a. obsolete : a wooden prop or pole
b.
(1) : a frame of uprights with a horizontal bar for holding cloth at full width during inspection
(2) : a textile machine with a similar frame
c. : a pole used especially to mark a buoy, shoal, or rock
< the end of the channel … where two iron perches stood — J.O.Hannay >
d. : the main shaft connecting the front and rear axles of a coach or other vehicle : reach
e. : a long pole used by an acrobat for climbing and balancing feats
< his celebrated headstand atop a swaying forty-foot perch — R.L.Taylor >
2. : a bar or peg on which something is hung
< spotlights … hung from perches in a forest of pipes above the stage — Winthrop Sargeant >
specifically : a horizontal pole to which a skin is attached while being scraped with a moon knife in the hand softening of leather
3.
a. : a roost for a bird
b. : something that resembles a roost: as
(1) : a small usually elevated seat for a liveryman on a coach or carriage
(2) : a short nonretractable trapeze on an airship
c. : a resting place or vantage point : seat, station
< our favorite perch … was the roof of the wheelhouse — J.W.Brown >
< from my perch in an attic window — Jan Valtin >
d. : a secure or prominent position : eminence
< his new perch as president of one of the most important concert managements in the country — Helen Howe >
e. : a pad on the axle of an automotive vehicle on which the spring is mounted — called also spring chair
4.
a. chiefly Britain : rod I 3
b. : any of various units of measure (as 24 3/4 cubic feet representing a pile 1 rod long by 1 foot by 1 1/2 feet, or 16 1/2 cubic feet, or 25 cubic feet) for stonework
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English perchen, from Middle French percher, from perche, n. — more at perch I
transitive verb
1. : to place on or as if on a perch, a height, or other precarious spot : set, station
< perch a pullet at three months >
< perch a hat on his head >
< red brick buildings with carved white sandstone demons perched on their entrance gates — Faubion Bowers >
< a cottage … perched on a wild sea cliff — Van Wyck Brooks >
< islands perched on the edge of Europe — Jacquetta & Christopher Hawkes >
< perched himself on the table, his hands gripping the edges of it — Rafael Sabatini >
2. : to examine (cloth from the loom) for imperfections by placing on a perch
intransitive verb
1. : to come to rest often uneasily or precariously on or as if on a perch : settle oneself : alight, sit
< flew off to perch on their eyries — C.G.D.Roberts >
< the pianist perches on a small suitcase to make his chair high enough — Claudia Cassidy >
< perch happily on a hillside and watch the sea — M.P.O'Connor >
2. : to occupy a usually precipitous location
< tall apartment buildings perch on the top of rocky cliffs — American Guide Series: New York City >
III. noun
(plural perch or perches)
Etymology: Middle English perche, from Middle French, from Latin perca, from Greek perkē; akin to Old English forn trout, Old High German forhana trout, faro colored, Swedish färna whiting, Latin porcus, a spiny fish, Greek perknos dusky, dark, Sanskrit pṛśni speckled, and perhaps to Greek prēthein to blow up — more at froth
1.
a. : a rather small European freshwater spiny-finned fish (Perca fluviatilis)
b. : a closely related fish (P. flavescens) of the eastern and central United States inhabiting lakes and streams and well known as a sport and food fish — see yellow perch
2.
a. : any of numerous marine or freshwater teleost fishes more or less resembling the European perch and mostly belonging to Percidae, Centrarchidae, Serranidae, and related families — usually used in combination; compare black perch, white perch
b. West : surf fish |