| 释义 |
▪ I. straddle, n.|ˈstræd(ə)l|
[f. next.]
I. The action of the verb.
1. a. The action of walking, standing, or sitting with the legs wide apart. Also transf. and fig.
1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iii. i. F 2, I knew you by your wide straddle. 1771Walpole Let. Lady Coke ? Oct.–Nov., Lett. 1904 VIII. 99 You are, I know, Madam, an excellent walker, yet methinks seven leagues at once are a prodigious straddle for a fair lady. 1784H. Macneill Whip Poet. Wks. 1801 I. 100 No female Phaetonians then Surpass'd the boldest of our men In gesture, look, and straddle. 1815Hist. John Decastro & Bat II. 272 However he made a straddle of it, and took the crown thereof very well between his knees.
transf. and fig.1780Cowper Rep. Adjudged Case 14 Your lordship observes they [the spectacles] are made with a straddle, As wide as the bridge of the Nose is; in short, Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle. 1914Lloyd George in Times 20 Sept. 4/4, I do not believe he [sc. the German Emperor] meant all these speeches; it was simply the martial straddle he had acquired.
b. The distance between the feet or legs of one who straddles.
c1842G. D. Prentice Prenticeana (1860) 110 A writer in the ‘True Whig’ justly represents Mr. Tyler as standing with ‘a foot on one boat and a foot on the other’... Although his Accidency's legs are not of the shortest, his straddle is becoming inconveniently wide. He will soon be as badly split as his party. 1864in Webster. 1934H. Vines This Green Thicket World 21 The two springs that were little more than a man's straddle apart boiled up.
2. a. U.S. Exchange slang. A ‘privilege’ or speculative contract in any one market or class of commodities, covering both a ‘put’ and a ‘call’—that is, giving the holder the right at his option (1) of calling, within a specified number of days, for delivery of an ascertained quantity of the commodity at a stated price, or (2) of delivering to the person to whom the consideration had been paid an ascertained quantity of another (or, less usually, of the same) commodity at a stated price. Hence, applied to an analogous contract on the Stock-exchange. Also called spread-eagle (Cent. Dict. 1891).
1883Harper's Mag. Mar. 598/2 They [sc. N.Y. brokers] always talked of ‘margins’ and ‘puts’ and ‘calls,’ and ‘straddles.’ 1892Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker i. 25 My father..was trying at this time a ‘straddle’ in wheat between Chicago and New York. 1893Cordingley Guide Stock Exch. 123 Straddle..is also an American term for a ‘Put and Call,’ but used when the price is the same whether the Stock is ‘put’ or ‘called’. 1902Longman's Mag. Apr. 485 The lady's wealth is based on a successful Straddle, operated..in—Bristles—Hog's Bristles and Lard.
b. In British use: see quot.
1902L'pool Corn Trade Assoc. Ltd., Section J, Bye-laws relating to Brokerages on grain futures. Straddles. When a broker executes an order to buy grain deliverable in a certain specified month, executing at the same time an order to sell the same quantity and description deliverable in another specified month, he shall be at liberty to carry out both transactions for one brokerage.
3. U.S. Politics (colloq.). An attempt to take an equivocal or non-committal position in a party platform (Cent. Dict. 1891).
[c1842: see sense 1 b above.] 1843Knickerbocker XXII. 233 These are..subjects for the straddle. The fence..is our only..safety on these p'ints. 1883American VI. 100 That his demand for an endorsement of free trade could not be yielded to, and that expediency demanded a ‘straddle’ that could be explained either way. 1890C. L. Norton Polit. Americanisms 109 Straddle, a stock-broker's term which acquired a political meaning during the campaign of 1884.
4. Poker. A doubling of the ‘blind’ or stake by one of the players.
1864W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 177 If the dealer choose, he may, in turn, double the straddle. 1882Poker; how to play it 49 The straddle is nothing more than a double blind. 1897[see stay v.1 13].
5. A positioning of discharged shots, bombs, etc., such that some fall short of and some beyond the target (see also quot. 1973), esp. used as a deliberate form of attack or for range-finding. Freq. with reference to naval warfare. Cf. straddle v. 5 c; straddling vbl. n.
1915in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. i. 486 Four rounds will be wasted for every hit made in addition to the rounds used before the straddle is obtained. 1918[see straddle v. 5 c]. 1926Sci. Amer. Aug. 104/1 They were liable to be wrecked by the first ‘straddle’ of an enemy's salvo. 1944Times 27 Apr. 4/7 Depth charges were dropped from a low height in a perfect straddle. 1973J. Quick Dict. Weapons & Military Terms 423/1 In range, or in deflection, when projectiles from a salvo fall both over and short of, or to both the left and right of, the target, a straddle is obtained.
II. Something which straddles or is straddled.
6.
†a. (Meaning obscure.) Obs.
1684Phil. Trans. XIV. 666 Land Carriage by draught, is by Wheele-barrows, Straddles, Carts of 2 wheels, Sleds, Wagons [etc.].
b. = saddle n. 3.
1825Jamieson. 1837S. Lover Rory O'More I. xi. 253 From the rudely constructed straddle of the sorry animal,..a budget containing the implements of the tinker's trade, depended. 1882E. O'Donovan Merv Oasis II. xlviii. 308 A beam..was in turn attached to a straddle fastened to the back of a camel.
7. Mining. (? U.S.) Each of the vertical timbers by which the different sets are supported in a shaft (Cent. Dict. 1891).
III. 8. Comb.: straddleback adv., with the legs astraddle; straddle-band, the band which secures the ‘straddle’ on a horse's back; straddle-bob dial., a black beetle (cf. straddle-bug); straddle-breech a., a contemptuous epithet applied to one who straddles; straddle carrier, a vehicle for manœuvring large containers, bulk loads of timber, etc., by straddling and lifting them beneath its chassis; straddle-fashion adv., in a straddling position, astride; straddle harvester, machine, an agricultural device which straddles rows of bushes or plants, etc., to facilitate the picking of the fruit; straddle-leg(s adv., with the legs astride; also attrib.; straddle-legged a., having the legs set wide apart; adv., with the legs astride; straddle mill (see quot. 1911); also as v. trans.; so straddle milling vbl. n., the milling of two parallel faces of a workpiece simultaneously by means of a pair of cutters on a single shaft; straddle-pipe, -plough (see quots.); straddle truck = straddle carrier above; straddleways adv. = straddle-wise adv.; straddle-wise adv. = straddle-fashion.
1839Thackeray Leg. St. Sophia of Kioff, She gets on the Prior's shoulder *straddleback.
1901J. Barlow From Land of Shamrock 288, I noticed the *straddle-band lookin' uncommon quare and wake.
1847Halliwell, *Straddlebob, a blackbeetle. I. Wight.
1682T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 60 (1713) II. 126 Then there was our old *Straddle-breech Friend.
1950Dock & Harbour Authority XXXI. 157/2 Another method of conveying baulks of timber, iron pipes and other similar goods is by petrol or diesel driven ‘*straddle’ carrier. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 9/1 Provisions for straddle carrier handling. 1977D. Grossman Samsom Management Lexicon vi. 36 At the extreme, straddle carriers may have a span wide enough to straddle several railway tracks or roadways and are used for the intermodal transfer of containers between road and rail.
1873Routledge's Young Gentl. Mag. Nov. 32/2 Seating himself *straddle-fashion across a chair.
[1967Amer. Fruit Grower May 20/1 (caption) Also a straddle-type, the Krebs harvester..has hand shakers on both sides.] 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vii. 85, I lurched creaking up the stairs like a blackcurrant *straddle harvester.
1836Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xxxii, That Captain has nothin to do all day, but sit *straddle legs across his tiller. 1868Routledge's Young Gentl. Mag. 597 Over the shaft were fastened three poles, straddle-legs fashion. 1892P. H. Emerson Son of Fens vii. 60, I went and sat straddle-leg across the horse of the bowsplit.
1817Hazlitt Pol. Ess. (1819) 213 The monstrous *straddle-legged figure of that legitimate monarch, Henry VIII. 1858–9Russell Diary India (1860) I. xiv. 229 The wives of the binneahs who sit straddle-legged on the tiniest of donkeys.
1975N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 39/2 The larger British ‘*straddle’ machines..are used to harvest some berry fruits.
1898*Straddle mill [see side mill s.v. side n.1 27]. 1905W. S. Leonard Machine-Shop Tools (ed. 3) xxvi. 436 The straddle-mill..is of course the quickest for shapes having an even number of sides. 1911Webster, Straddle mill, a milling cutter..commonly used in pairs a fixed distance apart so as to straddle the work, for sizing nuts, boltheads, etc. 1919H. D. Burghardt Machine Tool Operation ii. xii. 255 When any considerable number of pieces are to be milled it will be advisable to straddle-mill them. 1922P. Gates Jigs, Tools & Fixtures v. 53 In the case of the component at b calling for ‘*straddle’ milling, the fixture can be made adaptable, so that in the case of horizontal machines..the fixture could be arranged on angle plate..and vertically ‘straddle’ milled. 1954Straddle milling [see side milling vbl. n. s.v. side n.1 27].
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Straddle-pipe, (Gas), a bridge-pipe connecting the retort with the hydraulic main.
Ibid., *Straddle-plow, a plow with two triangular, parallel shares, a little distance apart, and used for running on each side of a row of dropped corn, to cover the seed.
1958Listener 25 Sept. 458/1 The [timber] yards, where the fork-lift and *straddle trucks scurry about loading and stacking. 1968N.Z. News 25 Dec. 5/5 Straddle trucks are by no means new to the timber industry, but this vehicle..offers features never before incorporated in these utility vehicles.
1919H. S. Walpole Secret City i. iii. 10, I can imagine Lawrence standing *straddleways on the deck of the Jupiter, his short thick legs wide apart.
1865Le Fanu Guy Deverill II. xiv, Little Linnett, mounted *straddlewise on his chair.
Add:[I.] [1.] c. Athletics, Gymnastics, etc. A movement in which the legs are held wide apart, esp. in vaulting or dismounting from apparatus; spec. in Athletics, a style of high jump in which the jumper clears the bar horizontally and face down, with the legs straddled either side. Freq. attrib.
The straddle jump was popularized by David Albritton at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1936.
1905Gymnastic Nomencl. Y.M.C.A. N. Amer. 35 Straddle, the thighs are abducted while passing over the apparatus and may be: a) Forward or Front b) Backward or Back. 1937Athletic Jrnl. May 10/2 This is a typical take-off for Albritton when using either the roll or straddle style of jump. 1942W. West Gymnast's Man. 95 In the straddle dismounts the performer passes over the apparatus with the legs in the spread or straddle position. 1949Dict. Sports 434 Straddle vault, Gymnastics, a vault over a buck in which the performer straddles its ends, the legs passing on the outside of the arms. 1951F. A. M. Webster Indoor Athletics & Winter Training viii. 96 The Straddle jump is..merely the ordinary Scissors jump turned upside down. 1952D. Canham Field Techniques Illustr. iv. 29 In the Straddle, however, the take-off leg trails and is not tucked under as it is in the Western Roll. 1964G. C. Kunzle Parallel Bars ii. 41 These elementary straddles are useful movements in their own right, and the single leg straddle into support is a useful start to an exercise. 1986Gymnastics (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 4) 23/2 This vault is a natural progression from the straddle vault over buck or box broadways. 1990G. Carr Fund. Track & Field 85 In recent years the Fosbury Flop technique of high jumping has superseded the straddle and the world records for both males and females are held by flop jumpers.
▪ II. straddle, v.|ˈstræd(ə)l|
Also 6–8 stradle.
[Frequentative f. strād- ablaut-var. of strīd- stride v.: see -le. Cf. striddle, stroddle vbs.]
1. a. intr. To spread the legs wide apart in walking, standing, or sitting; to stride about.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Varix, Varico,..vel Varicor.., to goe wide with the knees and legges: to straddle:.. to goe stradlynge. 1567Golding Ovid's Met. xiii. (1587) 172 See how their vdders ful do make them straddle. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo ii. iii. 83 Thou hast made him straddle too much like a Frenchman: for shame, put his legs closer. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. x. 73 [Boreas] From Shetland straddling wide, his foote on Thuly sets. 1619Middleton Tri. Love & Antiq. C 2 b, She being the first that taught women to ride sideling on horsebacke, but who it was that taught 'em to ride stradling, there is no Records so immodest that can shew me. 1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2074/4 An able white Gelding,..has all his paces, Straddles very much with his hinder Legs. 1735Dyche & Pardon Dict., Straddle, to stretch or extend the Legs wider than common. 1784Cowper Task vi. 676 Some noble lord Shall..wrap himself in Hamlet's inky cloak, And strut, and storm, and straddle, stamp, and stare, To show the world how Garrick did not act. 1906C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xi, ‘How do you do?’ she said, entering the tiny sitting-room where Colonel Vibrant straddled in front of the fire.
b. To stand or stride across, over (a wide space, etc.), from one stepping place to another at a distance; to sit astride on, across.
1678Bunyan Pilgr. Progr. i. (ed. 2) 93 Then Apollyon stradled [ed. 1 strodled] quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said,..prepare thy self to die. 1760H. Walpole Let. to H. S. Conway 19 Sept., Can't he make..Johnson straddle cross a river and come back with six heads of hussars in his fob? 1818Scott Rob Roy xxx, His foot slipping, as he straddled from one huge fragment of rock to another. 1826Hood Recipe for Civiliz. 45 Tartar grooms, that merely straddle Across a steak and warm their saddle. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. ii. (1856) 18, I felt as if I could straddle from the main hatch to the bulwarks. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 266 Down in the cellars merry bloated things..straddling on the butts While the wine ran. 1885Manch. Exam. 7 Aug. 5/6 Ministers who passed in and out had to straddle or leap over his long legs. 1898J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant i. 6, I straddled across the slab-step of the door, and dared him with the ashen cudgel I carried.
c. Of the legs: To stand wide apart.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 38 [An idol] resembling a man..his legs stradling, very wide. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 163 Their Pack-saddles are so broad that they are very uneasie to ones Legs, which must straddle very wide. 1889‘Q.’ (Quiller-Couch) Splendid Spur x, Under a trunk extraordinary broad and strong, straddled a pair of legs that a baby would have disown'd. 1897J. Gordon Village & Doctor 3 On he went..with head well back and legs straddling wider apart at every step, floundering in the heavy snow.
d. transf. of a thing, esp. of a thing having legs; also, to divaricate, sprawl. Also with complement and fig.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden V 2, He would..splinter our pens til they stradled again, as wide as a paire of Compasses. 1662Shirley Honoria & Mammon Wks. 1833 VI. 48 Her teeth straddle. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 66 There is one [passage] in Genesis, as I well remember, that is like a pair of compasses stradling! 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xii. 204 The Chopping-Block..hath three Legs in it, that stand stradling out from the underside. 1875Browning Inn Album 1 Lubber prose o'ersprawls, And straddling stops the path from left to right. 1909Durham Archæol. Trans. p. xxxi, A modern screw-pile bridge now straddles its ungainly length across the Tyne. 1916C. N. & A. M. Williamson Car of Destiny xiv, [We] crossed the Pisuergo by a long-legged bridge straddling across the river bed. 1969B. Rubens Elected Member ii. 18 Now, it was Norman, on the same bed, with a different illusion, but an illusion all the same, while between his father and Dr Levy in the kitchen, straddled the same uneasy truth.
e. spec. Of the spokes of a wheel: To stand with the ends staggered (Webster 1911).
1875[see straddling ppl. a.].
2. To walk with the legs wide apart; dial. ‘to swagger, strut’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
1802D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 8 Feb. (1941) I. iii. 108 We met our patient bow-bent Friend... He straddled and pushed us with all his might; but we soon outstripped him. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 10 Bless my heart—how you do straddle about! 1848Dickens Dombey xxvi, Major Bagstock..straddled along the shady side of the way. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles xii. 121 You straddle on to the tradesman who stands behind a little mountain of eggs. 1895Sir H. Maxwell Duke of Britain i. 9 Petilius tossed off his bumper..and straddled off to the parade ground.
†3. slang. (See quot.) Obs.
1735Dyche & Pardon Dict., Straddle,..also in Sports and Gaming to play who shall pay the Reckoning.
4. trans. To set (the legs) wide apart (in standing or walking). In quots. with out, † asunder.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Diduco, Diductum stare, to stande stradlyng the legges a sunder. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. v, Man..stands..insecurely enough; has to straddle out his legs, lest the very wind supplant him. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop iv, Mr. Quilp..straddling his legs out very wide apart, stooped slowly down. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 151, I watched them [giraffes] drinking, straddling out their forelegs by little jerks, until their feet were yards apart.
5. a. To sit, stand, or walk with one leg on either side of; to stride over; to bestride. Also fig.
1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit. 2nd Ser. I. 51 Arion, with a grotesque motion, is straddling a great trout. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xlvi. 95 Charley [the horse] was caught and dressed and straddled. 1859Habits of Gd. Society vii. 251 Straddling a chair, and tilting it up may be pardonable in a bachelor's rooms. 1863Bates Nat. Amazons xii. (1864) 397 In climbing between the box and the wall, it [sc. a monkey] straddled the space. 1908E. Œ. Somerville Further Exper. Irish R.M. 26, I straddled the window-sash, and arrived in the room with a three-cornered tear in the shoulder of my coat. 1970A. Toffler Future Shock xx. 424 Advanced telecommunications mean that participants in a social future assembly need not literally meet in a single room, but might simply be hooked into a communications net that straddles the globe. 1981Economist 24 Jan. 28/2 Bank holding companies can straddle state lines (including foreign banks that were lucky enough to establish branches before the 1980 deadline).
b. transf. To stand or lie across or on both sides of (something).
1890Century Mag. May 130/1 ‘Let him take a seat with me in the buggy.’ ‘That is best perhaps, as he would know better how to avoid the stumps and straddle the ruts.’ 1907J. A. R. Marriott Life Ld. Falkland 314 A cavalry skirmish..enabled the King to win the race to Newbury and so straddle the London road. 1911[see straddle-mill s.v. straddle n. 8].
c. Gunnery To fire at (a target) with shots, bombs, etc., so that they fall in a straddle (sense 5). (See also quot. 1941.)
1916Sir J. Jellicoe Disp. 24 June, in Battle of Jutland 54 Colossus..was hit,..and other ships were straddled with fair frequency. [Ed. note i.e. shots were falling on both sides of the ship, but not hitting her.] 1918‘B. Copplestone’ Silent Watchers viii. 165 When, say, the shots of one salvo fall beyond the mark and the shots of the next come down on the near side, the mark is said to be ‘bracketed’. When the individual shots of a salvo fall some too far and others too short, the mark has been ‘straddled’. A straddle is a closed-in bracket. 1941Christian Sci. Monitor 6 Mar. 4/7 ‘To straddle a target’..no longer means..range-finding shots placed each side of the target. To the bombardier, the phrase describes the split-second triggering of a stick of bombs upon an objective. 1943Sun (Baltimore) 28 Aug. 2/4 The crew of a plane..sprayed the deck of one submarine with machine⁓gun bullets, straddled it with depth charges and caused the U-boat to explode internally.
6. U.S. colloq. ‘To occupy or take up an equivocal position in regard to; to appear to favour both sides of’. Also intr. and absol. (Cent. Dict. 1891.)
1838J. C. Neal Charcoal Sk. 133 Sometimes I was a-one side, sometimes a-t'other, and sometimes I straddled till the election was over, and came up jist in time to jine the hurrah. 1878N.Y. Tribune 29 Mar. 4/5 Whenever Mr. Randall doesn't straddle a question, he gets on the wrong side of it. 1880Daily Union (San Diego, Calif.) 5 Sept. 1/3 For once in his life, therefore, Hendricks didn't straddle. He put both feet down on the wrong side, and tipped the whole party up. 1884Nation (N.Y.) 3 July 4/1 The platform..contains the well-known plank ‘straddling’ the tariff question. 1884Boston (Mass.) Traveller Aug., It should be remembered that he never straddled the negro question. 1906N.Y. Even. Post 6 Dec. 8 Eleven Senators answered yes, four no, and four straddled.
7. Poker. To double (a stake, bet). Also absol.
1864W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 177 The ‘blind’ may be doubled by the player to the left of the eldest hand, and the next player to the left may at his option straddle this bet. 1872[see blind n. 8]. 1882Poker; how to play it 49 C can straddle B's ante by putting in the pool two chips. Ibid. 50 A good player very rarely straddles. 1885B. L. Farjeon Sacred Nugget xvii, He put in [the pool] a bank-note, and said, ‘Five pound blind’. Antonio..put in an I.O.U. for ten pounds, saying ‘I straddle you’. Ibid., Mike Patchett went ten pounds blind; he [Antonio] straddled it with twenty. 1897R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 179 (Poker) The player to the left of the age may straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by the age.
8. to straddle the market (see quots.). U.S. Exchange slang.
1870W. W. Fowler Ten Years in Wall St. 128 Going long and short of stocks, at the same time, is what is technically called ‘Straddling’ the market. 1900S. A. Nelson ABC Wall St. 161 A speculator who has bought and is long of one stock, and sold and is short of another, has straddled the market. 1907M. Rollins Money & Investments 383 Straddle the market, an understanding of ‘Selling Short’ is first necessary. One has ‘straddled the market’ when he is ‘short’ of one stock and ‘long’ of another.
Hence ˈstraddling vbl. n.
1673Bunyan Diff. Judgm. Water-Baptism 44 Your putting in that way of his receiving which is invisible to us, is but an unhandsome straddling over my Argument, which treateth only of a visible receiving. 1761Victor Theatres Lond. & Dublin II. 74 By walking the Decks of the Ship from a Boy, he had contracted a Stradling in his Gait. 1919Athenæum 23 May 360/1 For a well-known method of range-finding..the Navy [has] the term ‘straddling’. 1949San Francisco News 14 Mar. 14/2 Despite the local board's straddling, the Legislature, fortunately, voted to continue the centers for another year. 1957O. Parkes British Battleships lxxviii. 458 He proposed that the armoured cruiser..should be placed at his disposal for..‘straddling’ tests.
▪ III. straddle, adv.|ˈstræd(ə)l|
[advb. use of straddle n.]
= astraddle, astride. Also const. of.
1857Quinland I. 24 He found a crazy fellow sitting straddle of a grave, holding on to the tombstone. 1866J. E. Brogden Prov. Lincs., Straddle, astride. 1898J. C. Harris Tales of Home Folks 244, I boun' ef I had a hoss an' could ride straddle I'd ketch 'im. 1919J. Masefield Reynard the Fox 12 Molly Wolvesey riding straddle. 1930W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 79 They had already dragged the backboard back from where Quick found it upside down straddle of the ditch about a mile from the spring. 1935Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. vii. 163 It's a story 'bout a man sittin' straddle of a cow. |