| 释义 |
▪ I. diamond, n.|ˈdaɪəmənd, ˈdaɪmənd|
Forms: α. 4–5 dia-, dyamawnte, 4–6 -maunt, 5–6 dyamant, 5–7 diamant; β. 4–5 dia-, dya-, -maund(e, -mawnde, -mounde, -mownde, 4–6 -mand(e, 5 dyamonde, -mount, -monthe, deamond(e, 5–6 dyamont(e, diamonde, 5–7 dyamond, 6 diamont, -munde, 6– diamond; γ. 7 dimond, 8 di'mond.
[ME. diamant, -aunt, a. OF. diamant (= Pr. diaman, Cat. diamant, It. diamanto, OHG. demant), ad. late L. diamas, diamant-em (med.Gr. διαµάντε), an alteration of L. adamas, -antem, or perh. of its popular variant adimant-em (whence Pr. adiman, aziman, ayman, OFr. aïmant), app. under the influence of the numerous technical words beginning with the prefix dia-, Gr. δια-.
The differentiation of form in late L. was probably connected with the double signification acquired by adamas of ‘diamond’ and ‘loadstone’ (see adamant); for, in all the languages, diamant with its cognates was at length restricted to the gem, as aimant was in F. to the loadstone. In English the dyamaund and adamaund are distinguished from and opposed to each other c 1400 in Maundevile, ed. 1839, xiv. 161, ed. Roxb. Soc. xvii. 80; but adamant long retained the double sense of late L. adamas: thus Sherwood, 1623, has ‘An Adamant stone, (F.) aimant, diamant, calamite, pierre marinière.’ See adamant.
The a of the middle syllable has tended to disappear since the 16th c., as shown by the spelling di'mond, dimond. Sheridan and other early orthoepists recognize the dissyllabic pronunciation, but most recent authorities reckon three syllables. In Shakespeare the word is more frequently a trisyllable; but it is very generally dissyllabic in Pope, Thomson, Young, Cowper, Keats, and Tennyson.]
I.
1. a. A very hard and brilliant precious stone, consisting of pure carbon crystallized in regular octahedrons and allied forms (in the native state usually with convex surfaces), and either colourless or variously tinted. It is the most brilliant and valuable of precious stones, and the hardest substance known.
Diamonds are commonly cut in three forms, called table, rose, and brilliant: see these words. plate diamond, point diamond, scratch diamond: see quots. 1854, 1880, 1883.
a1310in Wright Lyric P. v. 25 A burde in a bour ase beryl so bryht, Ase diamaunde the dere in day when he is dyht. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1289 Of fyne Rubyes and of dyamauntz [v.r. dyamauntis, diamantz]. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 79 Men fyndez dyamaundes gude and hard apon þe roche of þe adamaund in þe see. c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 844 in Ritson Romances III. 180 Wyth dyamondes set and rubyes bryght. 1501Bury Wills (Camden) 87 A ryng wt a dyamond therin. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. Table (Arb.) 12 Of the Adamant stone, otherwise called the Diamant. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 63 My Crowne is in my heart, not on my head: Not deck'd with Diamonds, and Indian stones. 1607― Timon iii. vi. 131 One day he giues vs Diamonds, next day stones. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 127 Diamants and other pretious Stones. 1727–46Thomson Summer 142 The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays. 1734Pope Ess. Man iv. 10 Deep with di'monds in the flaming mine. 1750D. Jeffries Diamonds & Pearls 58 The manufacture of Table and Rose Diamonds. 1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 189 Diamond has nearly the greatest light-bending power of any known substances, and hence comes in part its brilliancy as a jewel. 1854J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 9 The operation of scratching on glass may be conducted..with a variety of diamond, known as the scratch diamond, sold by this name on purpose. 1861C. W. King Ant. Gems (1866) 71 The diamond..has the peculiarity of becoming phosphorescent in the dark after long exposure to the rays of the sun. 1880G. C. M. Birdwood Indian Arts II. 30 When the natural crystal is so perfect and clear that it requires only to have its natural facets polished..jewellers call [it] a point diamond. 1883M. F. Heddle in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 381/2 The cleavage of certain of the African diamonds is so eminent that even the heat of the hand causes some of them to fall in pieces. Such diamonds, generally octahedra, may be recognized by a peculiar watery lustre; they are called plate diamonds.
†b. As a substance of extreme hardness; = adamant. Obs.
c1400Rom. Rose 4385 Herte as hard as dyamaunt, Stede⁓fast, and nought pliaunt. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 4 As rock of Diamond stedfast evermore. 1642Milton Apol. Smect. ii, Zeal, whose substance is ethereal, arming in complete diamond, ascends his fiery chariot. 1656Hobbes Lib. Necess. & Chance (1841) 304 Laid down upon the hardest body that could be, supposing it an anvil of diamant. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 364 On each wing Uriel and Raphael his vaunting foe, Though huge, and in a Rock of Diamond Armd, Vanquish'd.
c. Her. In blazoning by precious stones, the name for the tincture sable or black.
1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 55 b, The field is parted per pale Nebule, Carboncle and Diamonde. 1766–87Porny Her. 19.
d. pl. Shares in a diamond-mine.
1905Daily Report 22 Mar. 1/2 Lace Diamonds have been bought from Johannesburg. 1907Daily Chron. 28 Oct. 1/7 In Mines diamonds declined. 1964Financial Times 3 Mar. 19/4 Gold shares were irregular, while Diamonds were strong.
2. transf. Applied (usually with distinguishing epithet) to other crystalline minerals, resembling the diamond in brilliancy; as Bristol diamond, Cornish diamond (see Bristol, Cornish), Matura diamond, Quebec diamond (see quots.).
1591Nashe in Arber Garner I. 501 If one wear Cornish diamonds on his toes. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 239 St. Vincent's rock so full of Diamants that a man may fill whole strikes or bushels of them. 1665Hooke Microgr. 79 Stiriæ of Crystal, or like the small Diamants I observ'd in certain Flints. 1802R. Brookes Gazetteer (ed. 12), Piseck..Bohemian diamonds are found here. 1886S. M. Burnham Precious Stones 319 The variety [of zircon] obtained from Matura, Ceylon, where it is called ‘Matura diamond,’ is often sold in the bazaars of India for the genuine diamond. Ibid. 350 Rock Crystal..is recognized by various names, as Bristol, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and California diamonds. 1890G. F. Kunz Gems N. Amer. 262 Small, doubly terminated crystals [of rock-crystal] found in the Limestone of the Levis and Hudson River formations, and locally called Quebec diamonds.
3. fig.
a. Something very precious; a thing or person of great worth, or (in mod. use) a person of very brilliant attainments. (Cf. 7.)
c1440York Myst. xxv. 518 Hayll! Dyamaunde with drewry dight. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 183 The diamonde moost precyous to mankynde, thy swete sone Jesus. 15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. i. 1043, I will bestowe upon them the precious stons of my witt, a diamonde of invention. 1651Reliq. Wotton. 20 His second son, Walter Devereux..was indeed a dyamond of the time, and both of an hardy and delicate temper and mixture. 1888Froude Eng. in W. Ind. 112 There are many diamonds, and diamonds of the first water, among the Americans as among ourselves.
b. Something that shines like a diamond; a glittering particle or point.
1814Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xiii, Each puny wave in diamonds roll'd O'er the calm deep. 1862Shirley Nugæ Crit. i. 75 The grass is..covered with minute diamonds of white frost, which sparkle keenly in the winter light.
4. A tool consisting of a small diamond set in a handle, used for cutting glass; called distinctively glazier's diamond or cutting diamond.
1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3331/4 [He] took with him a valuable Glasier's Diamond. 1816Phil. Trans. 266 Having procured a common glazier's diamond. 1831J. Murray Diamond 37 Points are those minute fragments which are set in what are called glazier's cutting diamonds. 1875Ure Dict. Arts II. 28 The irregular octahedrons with round facets are those proper for glazier's diamonds.
5. a. A diamond-shaped figure, i.e. a plane figure of the form of a section of an octahedral diamond; a rhomb (or a square) placed with its diagonals vertical and horizontal; a lozenge. (In early use, a solid body of octahedral or rhombohedral form.)
1496in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. I. 293 Item for a waw of irne, to be dyamondis for guncast, xxv. s. Ibid. 310 Item, giffin to Johne Smyth, for hedis to xij speris, and dyamandis to xxiiij justing speris xvj s. 1651T. Rudd Euclid 11 Rombus, or a Diamond, is a figure having four equal sides, but is not right angled. 1831Brewster Nat. Magic xi. (1833) 289 The rows were placed so that the flowers formed what are called diamonds. 1842S. C. Hall Ireland II. 462 ‘The Diamond’, a term frequently used in the Northern Counties, to indicate an assemblage of buildings which, taken together, are diamond-shaped. 1889G. Kennan in Century Mag. XXXVIII. 167/2 Convicts in long gray overcoats with yellow diamonds on their backs. Mod. (Mercantile Letter) ‘We send you Bill of Lading of 2 bales Wool, mark L in a diamond.’
b. spec. A figure of this form printed upon a playing-card; a card of the suit marked with such figures.
1594Lyly Moth. Bomp. iii. iv, My bed-fellow..dreamt that night that the king of diamonds was sick. 1598Florio, Quadri, squares, those that we call diamonds or picts upon playing cards. 1680Cotton Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 340 The ace of diamonds. 1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 71. 2/2 The Nine of Diamonds is..call'd the Curse of Scotland. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock iii. 75 Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, in wild disorder seen. 1820Praed To Julia 78 As if eternity were laid Upon a diamond, or a spade. 1870Hardy & Ware Mod. Hoyle 150 Single Besique is composed of a Knave of Diamonds and a Queen of Spades laid upon the table..together. This scores 40.
c. A kind of stitch in fancy needlework.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 152 Diamond, a stitch used in Macramé lace to vary the design..There are three ways of making Diamonds; The Single..The Double..and the Treble.
d. The square figure formed by the four bases in the game of base-ball; also, by extension, applied to the whole field. (U.S.)
1875Cincinnati Enquirer 6 July 4/5 In the last seven innings the ball hardly got outside the diamond. 1894Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 25 Feb. 3/7 Rulers of the Diamond. The National Base Ball League.
e. In a bicycle, the diamond-shaped frame of steel tubing. More fully diamond frame. (Now disused.)
1891Young Man Apr. p. ii/2 (Advt.), Safety bicycle.—Diamond frame. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 488/2 Those had canvas luggage-cases in the diamond of their wheels. 1898Cycling 26 Valises which fit into the ‘diamond’ of the frame. 1917Cycling Man. 2 Diamond frame, with horizontal top tube.
f. Gliding. (See quot. 19601.) Also attrib.
1960Times 16 May 5/6, I was trying for my diamonds (a premier award in gliding)... I failed, but got my diamond heights over Newcastle. 1960Sunday Times 6 Nov. 23/6 Diamond height had suddenly become a possibility. Ibid. 23/8 Diamond distance remains to be achieved. 1971Daily Tel. 21 July 4/3 (heading) Burton third in gliding ‘diamond’. Ibid., The ‘diamond distance’ is considered one of the highest achievements in international gliding.
6. Printing. The second smallest standard size of roman or italic type, a size smaller than ‘pearl’, but larger than ‘brilliant’. Also attrib. [ad. Du. diamant: so named by its introducer Voskens.]
1778Mores Dissert. Eng. Typog. Founders 26 Minion, Nonpareil, Pearl, Ruby and Diamond, so named from their smallness and fancied prettiness. 1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. 43 Diamond is only pearl face upon a smaller body, and seldom used. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. v. 83. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 6 The very diamond edition of which might fill whole libraries. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 455/2 Diamond..is the smallest type used in this country. Ibid. 456 The Dutch were the first in Europe to cut Diamond type. 1856Book and its Story (ed. 9), 206 The value of the type for a Diamond Bible..is several thousand pounds. 1889H. Frowde in Pall Mall G. 26 Nov. 2/3 We specially cast the type for the book [the ‘Finger Prayer-Book’], which is printed, you will see, in ‘diamond’ and ‘brilliant’.
II.
7. Phrases. a. black diamond: (a) a diamond of a black or dark brown colour, esp. a rough diamond as used by lapidaries, etc.; (b) pl. a name playfully given to coal, as consisting, like the diamond, of carbon. b. rough diamond: a diamond in its natural state, before it is cut and polished; hence fig. a person of high intrinsic worth, but rude and unpolished in manners. c. diamond cut diamond: an equal match in sharpness (of wit, cunning, etc.).
a.1763W. Lewis Comm. Philos.-Techn. 321 A black diamond cut and set in a ring. 1849T. Miller in Gabarni in London 43 (Farmer) Were he even trusted with the favourite horse and gig to fetch a sack of black diamonds from the wharf. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Power (1861) 53 Coal..We may well call it black diamonds. Every basket is power and civilizaton. 1867Jrnl. Soc. Arts XV. 349 The boring machine..is composed of a steel ring set with black diamonds.
b.1624Fletcher Wife for Month iv. ii, She is very honest, And will be hard to cut as a rough diamond. 1685Boyle Effects of Mot. Suppl. 148 Having at the Diamond-Mine purchased..a rough Diamond. 1700Dryden Pref. Fables (Globe) 503 Chaucer, I confess, is a rough diamond. 1875Ure Dict. Arts II. 24 The value of a cut diamond is esteemed equal to that of a similar rough diamond of double weight. 1890T. Keyworth in Cassell's Fam. Mag. Dec. 49 He was a rough-looking man, and somebody called him a rough diamond.
c.1628Ford Lover's Mel. i. iii, We're caught in our own toils. Diamonds cut diamonds. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xi. 293 Then Gods diamonds often cut one another. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Diamond cut Diamond, bite the Biter. 1863Reade Hard Cash xxv, He felt..sure his employer would outwit him if he could; and resolved it should be diamond cut diamond. 1891J. Winsor Columbus xi. 256 In the game of diamond-cut-diamond, it is not always just to single out a single victim for condemnation.
III. attrib. and Comb.
8. attrib.
a. Made or consisting of diamond, as diamond lens, diamond stone (= sense 1).
1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 14 marg. The diamonde stone. 1617Minsheu Ductor in Ling., A Diamond or Picke at Cards, because he is picked and sharpe pointed as the Diamond stone. 1771E. Griffith Lady Burton III. 270 The diamond eyes of the Indian idol. 1827Goring in Q. Jrnl. Sc. & Arts XXII. 280 note, Diamond lenses I conceive to constitute the ultimatum of the perfection of single microscopes. 1830Optics 39 (Libr. Useful Knowl.) Mr. Pritchard finished the first diamond microscope in 1826. 1831J. Murray Diamond 39 If the power of the glass lens be 24, that of the diamond would be 64. 1841Longfellow Elected Knight v, A lance that was..sharper than diamond-stone.
†b. Hard or indestructible as diamond, adamantine. (Cf. 1 b.) Obs.
1580North Plutarch (1656) 800 Those strong diamond chains with which Dionysius the elder made his boast that he left his tyranny chained to his son. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 224 Making men hir slaves, and chaining them..with diamond chains. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. iii. x, With such a diamond knot he often souls can binde. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 101 To trye if luck would turn, and whether Fortune would be alwayes fixed with a Diamant-Nayle.
†c. ? Brilliant, shining. Obs.
1579G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 81 Delicate pictures..of most beautifull and diamond wenches. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 63 To heare their dirtie dregs ript vp and cast in their diamond faces.
9. attrib. Set or furnished with a diamond or diamonds, as diamond button, diamond clasp, diamond ring, diamond signet.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xxii. 213 Some hold it unhappy to be married with a diamond ring. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess. of Mar 1 Apr., This smock..is closed at the neck with a diamond button. 1827E. Turrell in Gill's Techn. Repos. I. 195 Diamond turning-tools. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. viii, Consider that unutterable business of the Diamond Necklace..Astonished Europe rings with the mystery for ten months. 1880Clerke in Fraser's Mag. 819 The diamond clasp which fastened the imperial mantle of Charlemagne. 1891Law Times XC. 283/1 Two diamond rings which he wished to dispose of.
10. attrib. or adj.
a. Of the shape of a diamond (see 5); lozenge-shaped, rhombic; forming a design consisting of figures of this shape, as diamond couching, diamond fret, diamond netting, diamond pattern, diamond work; having a head or end of this shape, as diamond dibber, diamond nail.
1598Barret Theor. Warres iii. ii. 77 The nearest..vnto the square of men, is the Diamant battell. 1663Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 481 A larg diomond hatchment with Canterbury and Juxon impaled. 1667Primatt City & C. Build. 160 A Diamond Figure, whose sides are parallel, but not at right Angles. 1840Penny Cycl. XVIII 215 s.v. Planting, The diamond-dibber, a pointed plate of steel with a short iron handle. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge i, Its windows were old diamond-pane lattices. 1858Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict., Diamond fret, a species of checker work in which..a diamond..is interlaced by the prolongations of the diameters of the square. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Diamond-nail, a nail having a rhombal head. Ibid., Diamond-work (Masonry), reticulated work formed by courses of lozenge-shaped stones, very common in ancient masonry. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 152 Diamond couching [is] one of the Flat Couchings used in Church Work. Ibid. 359 Fancy Diamond Netting is worked in three different ways.
b. Having a surface hewn or cut into facets, formed by low square-based pyramids placed close together.
1717Berkeley Jrnl. Tour Italy 27 Jan. Wks. 1871 IV. 551 Church of the Carmelites..in the front a little diamond work. 1870A. Beazeley Specif. Flamboro' Lightho., The Gallery-course is to be..cast with a neat diamond pattern as shewn, to give a safe foot-hold.
11. General combs.
a. attributive. Of or relating to diamonds, as diamond-bort (see bort), diamond-broker, diamond-carat, diamond-factory, diamond-merchant, diamond-trade; containing or producing diamonds, as diamond-bed, diamond-conglomerate, diamond-deposit, diamond-gravel, diamond-mine.
b. objective and obj. genitive, as diamond-bearing adj., diamond-digging, diamond-polisher, diamond-producing adj., diamond-seeker, diamond-setter, diamond-splitter.
c. instrumental, as diamond-paved, diamond-pointed, diamond-tipped adjs.d. similative, as diamond-bright, diamond-distinct adjs.; also diamond-like adj.e. parasynthetic, as diamond-headed, diamond-paned, diamond-shaped, diamond-tiled adjs.
a1618Sylvester Woodman's Bear lxxiii, Diamond-headed darts. 1628in Archæologia (1883) XLVII. 392 Dyamond boart and divers other materialls for the Cutting and finishing of our Armes in a Dyamond. 1632Lithgow Trav. iii. 85 The goodliest plot, the Diamond sparke, and the Honny spot of all Candy. 1685Diamond-mine [see 7 b]. 1704Phil. Trans. XXV. 1548 Such a Diamond-like Sand. 1820Keats Hyperion i. 220 Diamond-paved lustrous long arcades. 1835Willis Pencillings I. xiv. 108 The diamond-shaped stones of the roof. 1842Tennyson Vision of Sin ii, Till the fountain spouted, showering wide Sleet of diamond-drift and pearly hail. 1863I. Williams Baptistery i. vii. (1874) 79 Writ..With a diamond-pointed pen, On a plate of adamant. 1871M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. II. x. 300 Casements diamond-paned. 1876J. B. Currey in Jrnl. Soc. Arts XXIV. 375 The diamond-bearing soil. Ibid. 377 Keen-faced diamond brokers. 1880Clerke in Fraser's Mag. 818 It is said there were diamond-polishers at Nuremberg in 1373. Ibid. 821 The conditions of diamond-digging. 1883Archæologia XLVII. 396 Tavernier, a diamond merchant and jeweller, who visited Persia in..1664.
12. Special combs.: diamond-bird, an Australian shrike of the genus Pardalotus, esp. P. punctatus, so called from the spots on its plumage; diamond-borer, d. boring machine = diamond-drill (b); diamond boron, an impure form of boron obtained in octahedral crystals nearly as hard and brilliant as the diamond; diamond-breaker = diamond-mortar; diamond-broaching, broached hewn-work done with a diamond-hammer; diamond cement, cement used in setting diamonds; diamond-crossing, a crossing on a railway where two lines of rails intersect obliquely without communicating (see diamond-point 2); diamond-drill, (a) a drill armed with one or more diamonds used for boring hard substances; (b) a drill for boring rocks, having a head set with rough diamonds, a diamond-borer; diamond dust = diamond-powder; diamond-ficoides, the ice-plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum; diamond-field [cf. coal-field], a tract of country yielding diamonds from its surface strata; diamond file, fish (see quots.); diamond-hammer, a mason's hammer having one face furnished with pyramidal pick points for fine-dressing a surface on stone; diamond hitch, a method of fastening ropes in packing heavy loads; diamond-knot (Naut.), a kind of ornamental knot worked with the strands of a rope; diamond-mill (see quot.); diamond-mortar, a steel mortar used for crushing diamonds for the purposes of the lapidary; diamond-plaice, a local name (in Sussex) for the common plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), from its lozenge-shaped spots; diamond-plough, (a) a diamond-pointed instrument for engraving upon glass; (b) a small plough having a mould-board and share of a diamond or rhomboidal shape (Knight); diamond-powder, the powder produced by grinding or crushing diamonds; diamond rattlesnake, a rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) having diamond-shaped markings; diamond-spot, collector's name for a moth (Botys tetragonalis); Diamond State U.S., the state of Delaware (see quot. 1934); diamond stitch, an embroidery stitch producing a diamond pattern (see quot. 1964); diamond-tool, a metal-turning tool whose cutting edge is formed by facets; diamond wedding [after silver w., golden w.], a fanciful name for the celebration of the 60th (or according to some, the 75th) anniversary of the wedding-day; diamond-weevil = diamond-beetle; diamond-wheel, a metal wheel used with diamond-powder and oil in grinding diamonds or other hard gems. See also diamond-back, etc.
1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 179/2 s.v. Piprinæ, Pardalotus punctatus..Mr. Caley states that this species is called *Diamond Bird by the settlers, from the spots on its body. 1865Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 157 No species..is more widely and generally distributed than the spotted Diamond-bird.
1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 445 In soft strata it is somewhat difficult to obtain a core by the *diamond borer.
1867Jrnl. Soc. Arts XV. 349 *Diamond boring machine. 1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 442 The Diamond Boring Machine..The boring bit is a steel thimble, about 4 inches in length, having two rows of Brazilian black diamonds..in their natural rough state firmly imbedded therein.
1863–72Watts Dict. Chem. I. 628 Adamantine or *Diamond Boron..extremely hard, always sufficiently so to scratch corundum with facility, and some crystals are nearly as hard as diamond itself.
1880J. C. Bruce in Archæologia XLVI. 165, I have most frequently found the *diamond-broaching in camps which have been repaired by Severus.
1884G. W. Cox Cycl. Com. Things 117 A *Diamond cement..used by Armenian jewellers in setting diamonds, is composed of gum mastic and isinglass dissolved in spirits of wine.
1881E. Matheson Aid Bk. Engineer. Enterp. 252 Where a siding crosses a main road without connecting it, what is known as a *diamond crossing is used. 1891Morning Post 20 Feb. 3/4 Major Marindin strongly recommends..that there should be no diamond crossing worse than one to eight.
1827E. Turrell in Gill's Techn. Repos. I. 129 Pierced by very fine *diamond drills. 1881E. Matheson Aid Bk. Engineer. Enterprise 391 Diamond drills..will pierce the hardest known rocks.
c1702C. Fiennes Journeys (1947) iii. ix. 239 The true diamond..cannot be divided nor cut but by some of it self *diamond dust. 1844–57G. Bird Urin. Deposits (ed. 5) 221 A white powder..of a glistening appearance, like diamond-dust.
1767‘Mawe’ Ev. Man own Gardener Feb. 50 *Diamond ficoides, or ice plant. 1811M. Starke Beauties of C.M. Maggi 48 The Ice-plant, properly called, the Diamond-Ficoides.
1876J. B. Currey in Jrnl. Soc. Arts XXIV. 379 The discovery of the *diamond-fields.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 88 A *Diamond file is formed of a strip of copper with diamond powder hammered into it.
1854Adams et al. Nat. Hist. 93 Family..*Diamond Fishes (also called Bony-Pikes) Lepisosteidæ.
1858Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict., *Diamond hammer, a tool used by masons in the Isle of Man and in parts of Scotland for ‘fine pick dressing’ limestone and granite. 1883Specif. N. East. Railw., Alnwick & Cornhill Br. Contr. No. 2. 5 The face is to be either tooled, or broached with a diamond hammer.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) s.v. Knot, There are several sorts, which differ in..form and size: the principal of these are the *diamond-knot, the rose-knot, the wall-knot. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Diamond-knot, an ornamental knot worked with the strands of a rope, sometimes used for bucket-strops, on the foot-ropes of jib-booms, man-ropes, etc.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 87 [In a] *Diamond Mill..for cutting and polishing ruby pallets and other hard stones, discs charged with diamond powder and rotated at a high speed are used.
1853A. Soyer Pantroph. 237 The flounder, the brill, the *diamond and Dutch plaice.
1827J. Lukens in Gill's Techn. Repos. I. 76 On an improved *Diamond Plough..for cutting Circular Lines upon Glass. 1827E. Turrell in Ibid. 195 On Diamond ploughs for Engravers.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., *Diamond Powder is of great use for grinding hard substances. 1802T. Thomson Chem. I. 47 Diamond powder can only be obtained by grinding one diamond against another.
1883Times 26 Mar. 7/6 Of all the snake varieties..the *diamond rattlesnake..seems to be the most deadly.
1819G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 436 The *diamond spot.
1866Galaxy 15 Oct. 386 Without other significance than such..as attaches to the ‘*Diamond State’, ‘the Empire State’, [etc.]. 1934G. E. Shankle State Names 107 Delaware gets the nickname, the Diamond State, from the fact that it is small in size but great in importance.
c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 10 You should also learn to crochet, *Diamond stitch and centre tuck. 1964McCall's Sewing xiii. 243/1 Diamond or chevron stitch. This looks like the honeycomb stitch except that the thread between the rows is carried on top of the fabric instead of under the fabric.
1872Punch 23 Nov. 210/2 *Diamond Wedding. 1892Haydn Dict. Dates 1058 Diamond weddings after a union of 60 years, some apply it to 75 years.
Add:[III.] [12.] diamond willow N. Amer., any of various willows, esp. Salix bebbiana, which have diamond-shaped depressions on the trunk as a result of fungal attack; the wood of any of these trees.
1884C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N.Amer. (10th Census IX) 170 Salix cordata... *Diamond willow. 1930J. E. Kirkwood N. Rocky Mt. Trees & Shrubs 69 The Diamond Willow is reported on stream banks and wet places from Wyoming to the British possessions and west to California and Nevada. 1953D. Cushman Stay away, Joe iv. 49 Grandpere standing with his hands crossed over the knob of his diamond willow stick. 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 29 Aug. 12/1 The diamond willow..is widely used on the prairies since it makes excellent material for fence posts.
▪ II. ˈdiamond, v.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To furnish or bedeck with diamonds.
1751H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann (1891) II. 241 He plays, dresses, diamonds himself, even to distinct shoe-buckles for a frock.
2. fig. To adorn as with diamonds. (Cf. impearl.)
1839Bailey Festus xvi. (1852) 211 Wreathed round with flowers and diamonded with dew. 1845James A. Neil III. xvi, The tears rolled over the long lashes, and diamonded her cheek. 1878Lowell Lett. (1894) II. 216 Just as we got there, it cleared, and all the thickets..were rainbowed and diamonded by the sun.
b. To make glittering like a diamond.
1839Bailey Festus xiii. (1852) 157 The first ray Perched on his [a bard's] pen, and diamonded its way.
3. nonce-use. To call or name (diamonds).
1859Tennyson Idylls, Elaine 503 ‘Advance and take your prize The diamond’; but he answer'd, ‘diamond me No diamonds! for God's love, a little air’.
Hence ˈdiamonding vbl. n., adornment with or as with diamonds; brilliant ornamentation.
c1818Keats Notes on Milton in Ld. Houghton Life (1848) I. 277 The light and shade, the sort of black brightness, the ebon diamonding..of the following lines. a1821― Castle Builder, Their glassy diamonding on Turkish floor. |