| 释义 |
▪ I. stealing, vbl. n.|ˈstiːlɪŋ|
[-ing1.]
The action of steal v.1 in its various senses. Also Comb. with advs., as stealing-forth, stealing-in.
13..Seuvn Sages (W.) 1275 Thef of steling wil nowt blinne Til he honge bi the chinne. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 238 By rape, pykyng, estorcyon, sacrilege, or ony other maner of stelyng. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 170 By the strength of those Castelles, they were kept from their olde accustomed rauynes and stealings. 1581A. Hall Iliad ix. 165 No groome perceiues my stealing forth, nor tooke thereof regarde. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 97 Be steiling and reif, thay raþer seik thair meit. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. 155 For preuenting of stealing, or any helpe by the Latine booke..you may both cause them to write in your presence, and also make choise of such places which they know not where to find. 1669Boyle Contn. New Exp. i. 171 But the Stealing in of any Air, before the water was let in, is mentioned but as a Suspicion. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxvii [xxviii]. §16 Thus the taking from another what is his, without his Knowledge or Allowance, is properly called Stealing. 1887Browning Parleyings, B. de Mandeville v. 37 If, at first stealing-forth of life in stalk And leaflet-promise, quick His spud should baulk Evil from budding foliage, bearing fruit.
b. concr. in pl. Gains made by stealing.
1839Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. I. 195, I asked how much his office was worth, and his answer was six hundred dollars, besides stealings.
▪ II. stealing, ppl. a.|ˈstiːlɪŋ|
[f. steal v.1 + -ing2.]
That steals or moves stealthily; that eludes observation; that glides or creeps softly along; that comes on imperceptibly. Early use chiefly in stealing step, stealing pace (very common in the 16th c.; now rare).
1574Higgins Mirr. Mag., Q. Cordila xxxv, Eke nearer still to mee with stealing steps shee drewe. 1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 69 Nor heare the trampling of his stealing steppes. 1617Hieron Penance Sin xxvii. Wks. 1619 II. 380 Sinne..maketh boldnesse and security in a stealing and dangerous manner to encrease. 1629Gaule Holy Madn. 324 With a learing Looke,..stealing Pace, squeaking Voice. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vi. lxxvii, But see, the stealing night with softly pace,..creeps up the East. 1748Collins Ode Death Thomson 2 In yonder grave a Druid lies Where slowly winds the stealing wave! 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiii, He turned to the light, and proceeded with the same stealing steps towards Emily's apartment. 1813Byron Corsair i. vii, They watch his glance with many a stealing look. 1853R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 60 His [a horse's] easy stealing way of going, compared to the bounding elasticity of Hercules. 1892Welsh Rev. I. 767, I..followed her silently until we stood face to face in the stealing darkness. 1897W. J. Courthope Longest Reign iii, Not..for Thee hath stealing Age, Sovereign Lady,..Dimmed the glory of Thy golden prime.
b. Comb., as stealing-wise adv.; stealing-strake Naut. = stealer2.
1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 2 Seeing the fierce beast make stealing-wise towards him. 1830Hedderwick Mar. Archit. 120 Steeling-strake or plank, one that does not run all the way to the stem or stern post.
Hence ˈstealingly adv., stealthily, furtively, so as to elude observation. (Very common in the 16th and 17th c.; now rare.)
13..K. Alis. 5080 Many of his men.. Agein kyng Alisaunder hestes, Stelendelich dronken of this lake. c1400Ragman Roll 62 in Hazl. E.P.P. (1864) I. 72 And now cometh age, foo to your beauté, And stelyngly it wastyth stownde-mele. c1440Promp. Parv. 473/2 Stelyngly, or theefly, furtive, latrocinaliter. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. ix. 191 Whan ony clerke receyueth holy ordres stelyngely. 1596R. L[inche] Diella (1877) 81 And stealingly there glides with heauy pace A Riuolet of Pearle along her face. 1603Dekker etc. Patient Grissill iv. i. 1719 Enter Grissill, stealingly. 1630S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. iii. iii. §7 (1670) 360 And in this case likewise he must proceed as it were stealingly, sweetly and slowly, by little and little, and almost insensibly. 1693W. Bates Serm. viii. 278 A Disease neglected at first, that stealingly slips into the Habit of the Body,..becomes a last uncontroulable and incurable. a1843Southey in Fraser's Mag. (1868) LXXVII. 731 The means wherewith he would stealingly attempt this change. |