| 释义 |
▪ I. delve, n.|dɛlv|
[Partly a variant of delf n. (cf. staff, stave), partly n. of action from delve v.]
1. A cavity in or under the ground; excavation, pit, den; = delf n. 1. (The pl. delves is found with either sing.)
1590–6Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. Argt, Guyon findes Mammon in a delve Sunning his threasure hore. Ibid. iv. i. 20 It is a darksome delue farre vnder ground. 1729Savage Wanderer iii. 303 The delve obscene, where no suspicion pries. 1748Thomson Cast. Indol. ii. 682 There left thro' delves and deserts dire to yell. 1815Moore Lalla R. iv. (1850) 226 The very tigers from their delves Look out. 1820Shelley Hymn to Mercury xix, And fine dry logs and roots innumerous He gathered in a delve upon the ground.
2. A hollow or depression in a surface; a wrinkle.
1811in Pall Mall G. 4 Oct. 1892, 3/1 If it be the same bottle I found under his bed, there is a ‘delve’ in it into which I can put my thumb. 1869Daily News 8 July, The pursed up mouths, the artificial lines and delves, the half-closed eyes of those [marksman] to be seen sighting, and ‘cocking’, and aiming for the Queen's to-day.
3. An act of delving; the plunging (of a spade) into the ground.
1869Daily News 1 Mar., He quickly learns that every delve of his spade in the earth means money.
†4. (See quot.) Obs.—0
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Delve, as a Delve of Coals, i.e. a certain quantity of Coals digged in the Mine or Pit. 1721in Bailey; hence in Johnson, etc.
▪ II. delve, v.|dɛlv|
Forms: 1 delf-an, 2– deluen, (3 dælfen, Orm. dellfenn), 3–7 delue, 4 deluyn, 5 delvyn, 4– delve, (5–6 Sc. delf, delfe). pa. tense and pa. pple. 4– delved: earlier forms see below.
[A Common WGer. vb. originally strong: OE. delfan; dealf, dulfon; dolven; corresp. to OFris. delva, OS. (bi-)delƀan, MDu. and Du. delven, LG. dölben, OHG. (bi-)telban, MHG. telben:—OTeut. ablaut series delƀ-, dalƀ-, dulƀ-: not known in Norse, nor in Gothic; but having cognates in Slavonic. The original strong inflexions were retained more or less throughout the ME. period, though with various levellings of the singular and plural forms, dalf, dulven, in the pa. tense, and replacement of the plural form by that of the pa. pple. dolven; they are rare in the 16th c.; the weak inflexions are found already in the 14th c., and are now alone in use. The verb has itself been largely displaced by dig, but is still in common use dialectally.]
A. Forms of past tense and pa. pple.
1. pa. tense. strong.
a. sing. 1 dealf, 2–5 dalf, 4–5 dalfe, dalue; 4 delf, delue; 6 (9 arch.) dolve.
c1000ælfric Gen. xxi. 30 Ic dealf þisne pytt. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2718 Stille he dalf him [in] ðe sond. a1300Cursor M. 21530 (Cott.) Lang he delf [v. rr. delue, dalue] but noght he fand. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 48/3 He dalfe a pit behynde the cyte. 1489― Faytes of A. i. xvii. 50 He..dalue the erth. 1598R. Barckley Felic. Man ii. (1603) 66 Wo worth the wight that first dolve the mould.
b. pl. α1 dulfon; 2–3 dulfen, 3 duluen; 3–4 dolfen, 3–5 dolue(n, dolve(n.
a1000Martyrol. 138 Þa dulfon hi in þære ylcan stowe. c1205Lay. 21998 Alfene hine dulfen [c 1275 dolue]. a1225Ancr. R. 292 Heo duluen mine vet. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3189 Ðor he doluen..and hauen up-broȝt ðe bones. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 427/239 Huy doluen and beoten faste. a1400Prymer (1891) 107 They dolfen myn handes and my feet. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 57/1 Thegypciens wente and doluen pittes for water. 1865S. Evans Bro. Fabian 59 They dolve a grave beneath the arrow.
(β) 4 dalfe, dalue, dalf, 5 dalff; 4 delf.
a1300Cursor M. 7786 (Gött.) Þai dalf [v.r. dalue] it in a wodis side. Ibid. 21146 (Cott.) Þe cristen men þar delf [v.r. dalue, Gött. delued, Trin. buryed] him þan. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxv. 153 They dalff the erthe.
weak sing. and pl. 4–5 delued (pl. -eden), 4 -id, delfd, 5 deluyde, 4– delved.
a1300Cursor M. 16877 (Cott.) Þai delued him..in a yerd be þe tun. Ibid. 18562 (Gött.) Þai him hanged..And deluid him. Ibid. 19256 (Cott.) Þai..þat right nu delfd þi ded husband. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxi. 30, I deluyde this pit. 1388― Ps. lvi. 7 Thei delueden [1382 doluen] a diche bifore my face. 1605Rowlands Hell's Broke Loose 15 For when old Adam delu'd, and Euah span, Where was my silken veluet Gentleman?
2. pa. pple. strong. 1–4 dolfen, 2–6 doluen, 3–4 duluen, dolfe, 3–6 dolue, 4 dollin, -yn, delluin, 4–6 dolven, (-yn), dolve, (5 doluyn, -wyn); 6 delfe. weak. 6–7 delued, (6 Sc. deluet), 6– delved.
c1000Ags. Ps. xciii. 12 Deop adolfen, deorc and ðystre. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1895 Starf ysaac..was doluen on ðat stede. a1300Cursor M. 5428 (Cott.), I be noght duluen in þis land. Ibid. 5494 (Gött.) Dede and doluie [C. duluen, F. dolue, T. doluen] þar war þai. c1340Ibid. 3214 (Fairf.) In ebron dalue hir sir abraham, þer formast was dollyn alde adam. c1325Leg. Rood (1871) 113 Quen he riȝt depe had dellui[n] sare. a1400Prymer (1891) 77 He hat[h] opened the lake and dolfe hym. c1430Lydg. Bochas iv. ii. (1554) 102 a, She was ydolue lowe. a1450Le Morte Arth. 3604 Dolwyn dede. 1587Golding De Mornay xi. 159 To seeke Death where it seemeth to be doluen most deepe. a1600Merline 733 in Percy Folio I. 445 Her one sister quick was delfe.
1582[see B. 1, quot. 1398]. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (1885) 7 In sum places of Ingland..is deluet upe na small quantitie of Leid. 1756[see B. 7].
B. Signification.
1. a. trans. To dig; to turn up with the spade; esp. to dig (ground) in preparation for a crop. Now chiefly north. and Sc., where it is the regular word for ‘digging’ a garden. In Shropshire, according to Miss Jackson, to delve is spec. to dig two spades deep.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xl. §6 Swelce hwa nu delfe eorþan & finde þær ðonne goldhord. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. i. (Tollem. MS.) Þe more londe is doluen [1582 delved] and erid and ouerturnid, þe virtu þat is þerin is þe more medlid with all þe parties þerof. c1420Pallad. on Husb. ii. 74 Thi lande unclene alle doluen uppe mot be. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xlii, Vntyll this grounde be well ransaken & depe doluyn. 1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 58 To delue the ground for mines of glistering gold. 1577–95Descr. Isles Scotl. in Skene Celtic Scotl. III. App. 431 Thay use na pleuchis, but delvis thair corn land with spaiddis. a1610Babington Wks. (1622) 269 We ouer and ouer..plow our land, and delue our gardens. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 247 He directs the moss to be delved or dug up with spades, and the manure to be chiefly lime. 1845R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. iii. (ed. 2) 37 Time was when our countrymen united every employment; they delved the soil, they wove the fleece.
fig.1611Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 28 What's his name, and Birth?.. I cannot delve him to the roote: His Father Was call'd Sicillius.
b. transf. of burrowing animals.
1484Caxton Fables of æsop ii. v, Of a hylle whiche beganne to tremble and shake by cause of the molle whiche delued hit. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 687 Sometime he runs..where earth-delving conies keep. 1861Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 49 The blind mole that delves the earth.
2. a. To make (a hole, pit, ditch, etc.) by digging; to excavate. arch.
c825Vesp. Psalter vii. 16 Seað ontynde & dalf. c1000ælfric Deut. vi. 11 Wæterpyttas þa þe ᵹe ne dulfon. c1205Lay. 16733 Þe king lette deluen ænne dich [c 1275 dealue one dich]. a1300Cursor M. 21063 (Cott.) First he did his graf to deluen. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 365 To delue and dike a deop diche. 1513Douglas æneis xi. ix. 68 Sum..Befor the portis delvis trynschis deip. 1549–62Sternh. & H. Ps. vii. 13 He digs a ditch and delues it deepe. 1659D. Pell Impr. of Sea 338 Sextons to delve the graves of the greatest part of his Army. 1795Southey Joan of Arc vii. 477 Underneath the tree..They delved the narrow house. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 65 Delving the ditch a livelihood to earn. 1872A. Dobson Bookworm, Vignettes (1873) 209 To delve, in folios' rust and must The tomb he lived in, dry as dust.
b. transf. and fig.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. lx, Time..delues the paralels in beauties brow. 1855Singleton Virgil I. 81 The moles have delved Their chambers. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. xi. 169 Mrs. Vincy's face, in which forty-five years had delved neither angles nor parallels.
†3. To put or hide in the ground by digging; esp. to bury (a corpse). Obs.
c1200Ormin 6484 Þatt lic þatt smeredd iss þærwiþþ Biforr þatt mann itt dellfeþþ. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 77 Ioseph dalf wiþ his fader moche tresour in þe erþe. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 4888 Bespitted, scourgid, and corovned, dede, dolven, and ascendid. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 36 My fader had founden kyng ermeryks tresour doluen in a pytte. 1587Golding De Mornay xi. 159 Consider how often men go to seeke Death where it seemeth to be doluen most deepe, and yet finde it not.
transf.1735Somerville Chase ii. 38 In the dry crumbling Bank Their Forms they delve, and cautiously avoid The dripping Covert.
4. To obtain by digging; to dig up or out of (the ground); to exhume. arch. or dial.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 19 Þær ðeofas hit delfað & forstelaþ. c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. v. 51 He þat first dalf vp þe gobets or þe weyȝtys of gold, couered vndir erþe. c1386― Sqr.'s T. 630 Now can nought Canace bot herbes delve Out of the grounde. c1440Promp. Parv. 118 Delvyn' vp owte of the erthe, effodio. 1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 255 Do delve it up, and burne it here. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. (1887) 207 Delfeing vpe his fatheris reliques. 1777Barmby Inclos. Act 26 To cut, dig, delve, gather and carry away any turves or sods. 1866Neale Sequences & Hymns 35 In the valleys where they delve it, how the gold is good indeed. 1870Hawthorne Eng. Note-Bks. (1879) I. 226 Minerals, delved, doubtless, out of the hearts of the mountains.
†5. To pierce or penetrate as by digging. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 292 Heo duluen mine vet & mine honden. He ne seide nout þet heo þurleden mine vet & mine honden, auh duluen. Vor efter þisse lettre..þe neiles weren so dulte þet heo duluen his flesch. c1340Ayenb. 263 Yef þe uader of þe house wyste huyche time þe þyef were comynde, uor-zoþe he wolde waky and nolde naȝt þolye þet me dolue his hous. 1382Wyclif Ps. xxi[i]. 17 Thei dolue [v.r. delueden] myn hondis and my feet. c1450Bk. Curtasye 327 in Babees Bk. 308 Ne delf thou never nose thyrle With thombe ne fyngur.
6. To dint or indent. dial.
1788W. Marshall East Yorks. Gloss., Delve, to dint or bruise, as a pewter or a tin vessel. 1876Whitby Gloss., Delve..to indent, as by a blow upon pewter; which is then said to be delved. 1877Holderness Gloss., Delve, to indent or bruise a table, or metal surface, by a blow.
7. a. absol. or intr. To labour with a spade in husbandry, excavating, etc.: to dig. arch. or poet., and dial. (In most dialect glossaries from Lincolnsh. and Shropsh. northward.)
c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 3 Ne mæᵹ ic delfan, me sceamað þæt ic wædliᵹe. a1225Ancr. R. 384 Ȝif eax ne kurue, ne þe spade ne dulue..hwo kepte ham uorte holden? c1340Hampole in Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 79 When Adam dalfe and Eue spane..Whare was þan þe pride of man? c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. viii. (1869) 140 Folk howweden and doluen aboute þe cherche. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §4 To digge and to delve..for erth, stones and turfes. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 41 [He] saw ane ald man..Delfand full fast with ane spaid in his hand. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 208, I will delve one yard below their mines. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 113 Men have..delved into the bowels of the earth. 1858Longfellow M. Standish viii, When he delved in the soil of his garden.
b. transf. of animals.
1727–38Gay Fables i. xlviii. 31 With delving snout he turns the soil. 1855Longfellow Hiaw. xiii. 130 Crows and black-birds..jays and ravens..Delving deep with beak and talon For the body of Mondamin.
c. to delve about: to excavate round. (With indirect passive.)
1515Scot. Field 19 in Chetham Misc. (1856) II., Yt was so deepe dolven with ditches aboute.
8. fig. To make laborious search for facts, information, etc., as one who digs deep for treasure.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II ccxliv, Gloucester..Delves for himselfe, pretending publick right. 1650Featley Pref. in S. Newman's Concord. 1 Why delve they continually in humane arts and secular sciences, full of dregs and drosse? 1836O. W. Holmes Poems, Poetry iv. iv, Not in the cells where frigid learning delves In Aldine folios mouldering on their shelves. 1864Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. III. 32 The Norman Antiquary delves for the records of his country anterior to the reign of Philip Augustus.
9. To work hard, slave, drudge. dial. or slang.
1838C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron xxix. 204 The poor mother..delving at her needle. 1869L. M. Alcott Lit. Women i. ii. 171 Delve like slaves. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘They're delving at it’, going ahead with the work. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Delve..to slave, to drudge. 1891Farmer Slang, Delve it (tailors'), to hurry with one's work, head down and sewing fast.
†10. To dip with violence, plunge down into water. Obs. rare—1.
1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xiii. 367 He was bound..on a Bambon..which was so near the Water, that by the Vessels motion, it frequently delved under water, and the man along with it.
11. Of the slope of a hill, road, etc.: To make a sudden dip or deep descent.
1848Lytton Arthur vi. lxxxi, The bird beckoned down a delving lane. 1855Chamb. Jrnl. III. 329 The combs delve down precipitously. 1862Lytton Str. Story II. 115 The path was rugged..sometimes skirting the very brink of perilous cliffs; sometimes delving down to the sea-shore.
Hence delved ppl. a., delving vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 250 In dykynge or in deluynge. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 356 Let us..fall to delving. c1625Milton Death Fair Inf. v, Hid from the world in a low-delvèd tomb. a1659Cleveland Count. Com. Man Poems (1677) 98 One that hates the King because he is a Gentleman, transgressing the Magna Charta of Delving Adam. 1883J. Shields in Trans. Highland Soc. Agric. Ser. iv. XV. 38 The delved and ploughed portion, about 2½ acres. 1888Athenæum 25 Aug. 249/1 Weary delvings among a heterogeneous mass of documents. |