释义 |
▪ I. ˈdog's-ear, n. [cf. next.] 1. The corner of a leaf of a book, etc. turned over like a dog's ear by constant or careless use, or to serve as a book-mark.
c1725Arbuthnot & Pope Mem. P. P. Clerk of this Parish (T.), I did make plain and smooth the dogs ears throughout our great bible. 1750Gray Long Story 68 Creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio. 1857A. Mathews Tea-Table Talk II. 43 Dog's ears and other deteriorations..disgust the fastidious taste during perusal. 2. U.S. Naut. A small bight formed in the leech-rope of a sail in reefing, etc. Hamersly's Nav. Encycl. (1881).
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, The first [man] on the yard goes to the weather earing, the second to the lee, and the next two to the ‘dog's ears’. ▪ II. dog's-ear, v. Also dog-ear. [cf. prec. So far as our evidence goes, the vb. is the earlier, the sense being evidently to make the leaf like the ear of a dog with its turned-down tip.] trans. To damage or disfigure (a book, etc.) by turning or folding down the corners of the leaves.
a1659Osborn Misc. To Rdr. (1673) 5 To ruffle, dogs-ear, and contaminate by base Language and spurious censures the choicest leaves. 1775Sheridan Rivals i. ii, Lady Slattern Lounger..had so soiled and dogs'-eared it, it wa'n't fit for a Christian to read. 1886J. R. Rees Divers. Bk.-worm v. 174 [A] book..kept specially for Charles Lamb to finger and dog-ear when he came. 1891E. Gosse Gossip in Library xiii. 164 She did not dog's-ear her little library. 1903Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 2/1 She dog-eared her book. 1940R. Stout Over my Dead Body xi. 150 He..dog-eared a page and closed the book. Hence dog's-eared (dog-eared) ppl. a.
1784Cowper Tiroc. 402 A dog's-ear'd Pentateuch. 1824Macaulay Misc. Writ. (1860) I. 125 The old schoolroom, the dog-eared grammar. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxiv, A few dog's-eared books upon a high shelf. 1844― Chimes 20 (Hoppe) The pockets of his trousers, very large and dog's-eared. 1895M. Pemberton Impregnable City xv. 303 Dog-eared lilies. |