| 释义 |
▪ I. dither, v.|ˈdɪðə(r)|
[A phonetic variation of didder, q.v.; cf. father, mother, feather, hither, gather, in which -ther represents earlier -der.]
1. intr. Orig. chiefly dial., to tremble, quake, quiver, thrill. Now also in gen. colloq. use: to vacillate, to act indecisively, to waver between different opinions or courses of action.
1649Depos. Cast. York (Surtees) 29 He saw the said Sara Rodes..her body quakeing and dithering about halfe a quarter of an hower. 1666tr. Horace Odes i. xxiii, So tremulous is she Dith'ring both in heart and knee. 1820Clare Rural Life (ed. 3) 47 Needy Labour dithering stands. 1828in Craven Gloss. 1891Mrs. L. Adams Bonnie Kate II. iii. 85 Kate would not be there to hear it [the organ] boom, and thrill, and ‘dither’. [In most dialect glossaries as far south as Shropsh., Leicester, Northamp.] 1908‘I. Hay’ Right Stuff i. 6 If there is a viva-voce, be sure to speak up and give your answers as though you were sure of them... The one thing the examiners will not thole is a body that dithers. 1923H. C. Bailey Mr. Fortune's Practice iii. 81 All newspapers are run by madmen, but the ‘Watchman’ merely dithers. 1927Manch. Guardian Weekly 16 Dec. 463/1 While Governments dither and talk limply of disarmament and peace large numbers of normally inarticulate citizens grow increasingly restive. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement vii. 359 ‘I don't know what on earth you're trying to say,’ she told him... ‘Oh, don't dither so much, silly.’ 1932C. Williams Greater Trumps x. 168 She re⁓ordered her thoughts; this was mere dithering. 1938E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. v. 255 The lady..was already dithering round a table of new novels. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway i. 27, I don't think it [sc. a tailplane] had any continuous movement—it wasn't dithering all the time. 1959Times 14 Dec. 13/4 She was the first producer we had ever had who never dithered about which was Up Stage and which Down.
2. To confuse, perplex, make nervous (esp. in pass.). So ˈdithered ppl. a., confused, perplexed; also (Austral.), drunk.
1919Masefield Reynard 98 He's done: he's dithered. 1932N. Lindsay Cautious Amorist v. 70 Dithered we [w] as already by the booze we had ashore. 1936D. G. Smith Call it a Day ii. ii. 75 It's these girls in the shops. They just dither you. 1948V. Palmer Golconda xvii. 140 I've seen him so dithered by printed words he didn't know whether it was this week or next. Ibid. v. 32 They have a right to know what the prospects here actually are. At present they are dithered by rumours.
Hence ˈdithering vbl. n. and ppl. a.; dithering-grass, quaking-grass, Briza media.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 193 How have I joy'd, with dithering hands, to find Each fading flower. 1878–86Britten & Holland Plant-n., Dithering Grass, Briza media. Lanc. 1890R. Kipling Soldiers Three 65 Thomas in bulk can be worked up into ditthering, rippling hysteria.
▪ II. ˈdither, n.
[f. prec. vb.]
a. The action of dithering; vibration.
1878F. W. Williams Midl. Railw. 651 The firmness with which one has to stand on the footplate in order to resist the ‘dither’ of the engine. 1888Engineer 24 Feb. 163/3 The range of the reciprocation of the tool..is not much more than a vibration or dither.
b. A state of tremulous excitement or apprehension; chiefly in phr. all of a dither; also, vacillation; a state of confusion. colloq. or dial.
1819‘P. Bobbin’ Sequel to Lanc. Dial. 6 (E.D.D.), I'm aw on o' dither, if th' wynt bo sturs a twig. 1891C. Wordsworth Rutland Words 11 Those children keep me in the dithers, they do. 1899Watts-Dunton Aylwin xii. 331 The sight o' both on us..might make the poor body all of a dither if she was very ill. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Comp. iii. ii. 500 They'll rehearse all right... When it comes to the night, all of a dither. 1931E. Sackville-West Simpson iii. xvii, She quickly pulled herself together, feeling that such a state of dither would not, if she showed it, illustrate her name. 1939N. Marsh Overture to Death xxi. 243 Eleanor was thrown into a dither by finding us there together. 1957S. Jameson Cup of Tea for Mr. Thorgill ii. 31 Always in a dither of enthusiasm and misplaced devotion—and what a bore that is! 1958Sat. Rev. Lit. 31 May 8/3 She came up with Stanley Baldwin and his policy of delusion and dither, which left England nearly helpless against Hitler. 1970M. Pereira Pigeon's Blood xi. 127 Such brains are usually characterised by two things: the speed with which they can reach vital decisions; and the speed with which they can grasp how to implement such decisions. A total absence of dither, if you like. |