| 释义 |
▪ I. downy, a.1|ˈdaʊnɪ|
[f. down n.1 + -y1.]
Of the nature of a down; characterized by downs.
1671St. Foine Improved 8 The Downy and dry parts of England and Wales. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) III. 817 The land..was of the downy kind, without a single tree. 1867Motley Corr. 20 Aug., A rolling, downy country.
▪ II. downy, a.2|ˈdaʊnɪ|
[f. down n.2 + -y1.]
1. a. Of the nature of or like down; feathery, fluffy.
1578Lyte Dodoens v. xiv. 566 The flowers of milke Thistel..change into rounde cotton or downie bawles. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 79 On his tender lips the downy heare Did..freshly spring. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 32 There lyes a dowlney feather, which stirres not. 1742Young Nt. Th. i. 4 Sleep..Swift on his downy Pinion flies. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxvi. 85 Thick downy feathers, taken from the breasts of various birds.
b. downy mildew: a disease of plants caused by parasitic fungi of the order Peronosporales.
1886Bull. Bot. Div. U.S. Dept. Agric. II. 7 (title) Fungous diseases of the grape vine. I. The downy mildew. 1909B. M. Duggar Fungous Dis. Plants x. 152 The downy mildew of the grape is one of the most important disease-producing organisms among the Peronosporaceæ. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Feb. 157/1 Downy mildew (Perono-plasmopara cubensis)..appears as more or less angular, yellowish spots on the leaves, on the undersides of which a scanty white downy growth develops. 1970Times 14 July 10/6 The aim was to produce a variety resistant to downy mildew.
2. Made or consisting of down.
a1592Greene Alphonsus iv. Wks. (Rtldg.) 243 Mars lies slumbering on his downy bed. 1712–4Pope Rape Lock i. 19 Belinda still her downy pillow prest. 1820Sporting Mag. VI. 79 The morning was truly forbidding for the swells to leave their downy dabs.
3. a. Covered or clothed with down.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 56 So doth the Swan her downie Signets saue. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 72 For downy Peaches and the glossie Plum. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Peonie, The Leaves are indented, downy on the Backside. 1837Lytton E. Maltrav. 20 Happiness and health bloomed on her downy cheeks.
b. Hence in specific names of plants, as downy ling, downy oat, downy willow, etc.
1548Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 81 It [Clematis Vitalba] may be called in Englishe Heguine, or Downiuine. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 193 Downy Woundwort.
c. downy woodpecker, a small species of North American woodpecker, Dendrocopos pubescens.
1808A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. I. 153 Downy Woodpecker. Picus Pubescens...is the smallest of our Woodpeckers. 1872Rep. Vermont Board Agric. 321 The Downy Woodpecker (Picus pubescens, Linn.) a black and white bird, usually not over six inches long. 1948Pacific Discovery Mar.–Apr. 18/1 A harsh spick! note tells of a downy woodpecker in the neighborhood. 1964J. Bull Birds N.Y. Area ii. 289 The Downy Woodpecker nests in open woodland, orchards, suburbs, and city parks. 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 13 June 13/3 There are the..downy woodpecker, flicker woodpecker, [etc.].
4. transf. and fig. Down-like, soft as down.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 108 Ile..couch my heade in downie moulde. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 81 Shake off this Downey sleepe, Deaths counterfeit. 1742Young Nt. Th. v. 397 Time steals on with downy Feet. 1839Bailey Festus (1854) 391 A warmer beauty and a downier depth.
5. slang. [with sense from down adv. 22.] Wide-awake, ‘knowing’.
1821Egan Tom & Jerry (1890) 95 (Farmer) Mr. Mace had long been christened by the downies, the ‘dashing covey’. 1825C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 379 The president must be considered a downy one. 1837Thackeray Yellowplush i. (1887) 14 I'm generally considered tolerably downy. 1873M. E. Braddon Str. & Pilgr. iii. v, Hilda, you're the downiest bird—I beg your pardon, the cleverest woman I ever met with.
6. Comb., as downy-cheeked, downy-clad, downy-feathered, downy-fruited, downy-sprouting, downy-winged adjs.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. Colonies 42 The feeble downie-feathered Young. 1606Ibid. ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 698 Some douny-clad, some (fledger) take a twig To pearch-upon, some hop from sprig to sprig. 1791Cowper Iliad ix. 553 To make me downy-cheek'd as in my youth. 1815Shelley Demon of World 23 Downy-winged slumbers.
▪ III. downy, n. slang.|ˈdaʊnɪ|
Also downey.
[f. downy a.2]
A bed; so to do the downy, to lie in bed. Cf. downy a.2 2 (and quot. 1605 for sense 4).
1846Swell's Night Guide 117/2 Dab, a letter, doss, downey, bed. 1847W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky 58 The candidate yawned, looked at his bed,..finally..seating himself upon ‘the downy’. 1854‘C. Bede’ Further Adv. V. Green vii. 59 This'll never do..! Cutting chapel to do the downy! 1858Trollope Three Clerks I. ix. 181 I've a deal to do before I get to my downy. 1868― He Knew (1869) I. xlv. 347 The Colonel was lodged safe in his downey. 1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands ix. 118 Er pair iv boots was stickin' out conspicuous et one end iv ther downy. 1968Gloss. Brit. Argot (Paramount Pictures), Do the downy, remain in bed. |