| 释义 |
▪ I. swarm, n.|swɔːm|
Forms: 1 suearm, swearm, swerm, 4–7 swarme, 6 swerm, 4– swarm.
[OE. swearm, = Fris., MLG. swarm, OHG. suar(a)m (MHG. swarem, swarm, G. schwarm) swarm of bees or insects, ON. svarmr tumult (Norw. dial. svarm):—OTeut. *swarmaz.
The root is usually identified with that of Skr. svárati sounds, resounds, svará, svára sound, voice, and connected further with sur- in L. susurrus hum, MLG. surren to hum, MHG. surm humming, Lith. surmà pipe, etc. But the etymological meaning may be that of agitated, confused, or deflected movement, in which case swarm and swerve might arise from parallel formations on the same base; cf. the parallelism of swarm v.2 and swarve v.2; Norw. dial. svarma to be giddy, stagger, dream, and svarva to turn, go in a circle, stagger, be agitated (see swarf v.); Icel. svarfla and svarmla ‘praecipitanter contrectare, huc illuc raptare’; also the meanings of G. schwärmen to swarm, rove, riot, fall into reverie, rave.
The existence of a mutated form in OE. (early WS. *swierm) cannot be inferred with certainty from the late instance of swerm (Napier OE. Glosses 156/21), but such a form is found on the Continent in WFris. swerm, MLG., MDu. swerm (Du. zwerm), Da. sværm, Sw. svärm; cf. the vb.]
1. a. A body of bees which at a particular season leave the hive or main stock, gather in a compact mass or cluster, and fly off together in search of a new dwelling-place, under the guidance of a queen (or are transferred at once to a new hive).
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) E 506 Examen, suearm. a1100Aldhelm Gloss. i. 3821 (Napier 101/2) Examen, .i. multitudo apium, swearm ad aluearium, to hyfen. 13..Cursor M. 7113 (Gött.) A swarm [Cott. bike] of bes þar-in war bred. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 223 Þikke þowsandez..Fellen fro þe fyrmament,..Hurled in-to helle-hole as þe hyue swarmez. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 193 For neuere yet so þikke a swarm of ben Ne fleygh as Grekes gonne fro hym flen. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3380 Do no cruelte vnto þe swarm, But mekely hem gouerne. c1440Pallad. on Husb. i. 1039 His hyuys hauynge redy forto take His swarmys yonge. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §122 If a swarme be caste late in the yere. 1603Dekker Wonderfull Yeare Wks. (Grosart) I. 143 He strucke so sweetely on the bottome of his Copper instrument, that he would emptie whole Hiues, and leade the swarmes after him only by the sound. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. 182 They can take swarms out of any stock that is able, and neglects to swarm, without any prejudice to the stock. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. 281 When a hive sends out several swarms in the year, the first is always the best and the most numerous. 1817Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xix. (1818) II. 166 A swarm seldom..takes place except when the sun shines and the air is calm. 1864in N. & Q. 3rd. Ser. VI. 493/2 A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a butterfly. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 341 Each swarm contains not only the recently-hatched young bees, but also a portion of the old inhabitants.
b. allusively of persons who leave the original body and go forth to found a new colony or community.
1659in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 352 They are rather inferior than superior: but a swarm from you. You are the mother-hive. They are but a rib from your side. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. to Hen. VII (1762) I. ii. 55 A new swarm of Danes came over this year [875]. 1827G. Higgins Celtic Druids 78 It is very probable that a great swarm from the hive bearing the name of Scythians may have arrived in Germany. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 213 The learned theory of Mr. H. Rashdall, that as Oxford was (or must have been) a swarm from Paris, so Cambridge was (or must have been) a swarm from Oxford.
2. A very large or dense body or collection; a crowd, throng, multitude. (Often contemptuous.) (a) of persons.
1423Jas. I Kingis Q. clxv, And euer I sawe a new[e] swarm [of folk] abound. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 291 There shall..come leapyng foorth whole swarmes, of bothe horsemen and footemen. 1549Hooper Funerall Oratyon B vij, As black is contrarye vnto whyte: and the catholycke churche of Christ, to the smerm [read swerm] nd multytude of Antichriste. 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 87 b, A swarme of Bishops to the number..of cccl. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo i. iii. 22 Farmers that crack barns With stuffing corne, yet starue the needy swarmes. a1661Fuller Worthies (1662) ii. Worc. 183/1 England in swarms did into Holland throng. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. 2 Cor. xi. 13 It's no wonder then if there be swarms of false Ministers, pretending to be the true Ministers of Christ. a1715Burnet Own Time iii. (1724) I. 357 We saw what swarms of sects did rise up on our revolt from Rome. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington 110 Beating from the wasted vines Back to France her banded swarms. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 310 The onset of a second son of the same dreaded chieftain, who would sweep down with new swarms of Gauls and Spaniards from the north.
(b) of insects or other small creatures, esp. flying or moving about; † rarely of large animals.
1560Bible (Genev.) Exod. viii. 21, I wil send swarmes of flies bothe vpon thee, & vpon thy seruants. a1569A. Kingsmill Man's Est. xi. (1580) 73 There was fleshe enough to satisfie that swarme of adders, the Pharisees. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa i. 39 Great swarmes of tigres, which are very hurtfull both to man and beast. Ibid. 51 Swarmes of a kinde of fowles of the bignes of duckes. 1684Contempl. St. Man i. x. (1699) 116 Locusts..in great swarms shall disperse themselves over the Face of the whole Earth. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 481 The wriggling fry soon fill the creeks around, Pois'ning the waters where their swarms abound. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 10 Many a night I saw the Pleiads..Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid. 1914Brit. Mus. Return 197 A swarm of cockroaches..in a house at Chislehurst.
(c) of inanimate objects or abstract things. spec. (i) of asteroids or meteors (cf. meteor-swarm s.v. meteor 6 d); (ii) of earthquakes; cf. also dike-swarm s.v. dike, dyke n.1 10.
1582Bentley Mon. Matrones i. 1 My sinnes..are so manie, that the infinit swarme of them [etc.]. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV. v. i. 55 This swarme of faire aduantages. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 6 Upon this, came into her mind by swarms, all her unkind, unnatural, and ungodly Carriages to her dear Friend. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 2 Such a swarm of Vessels of greater bulk. 1785Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. 1842 I. 340 He is overpowered with a swarm of their demands. 1866Whittier Snow-bound 33 A night made hoary with the swarm And whirl-dance of the blinding storm. 1890Nature 20 Mar. 473/2 There are swarms of dust travelling thro' space. 1929J. H. Jeans Universe around Us iv. 242 The asteroids occur as a single swarm. 1958C. F. Richter Elem. Seismol. i. vi. 71 Certain localities are..visited by earthquake swarms, long series of large and small shocks with no one outstanding principal event. Such swarms are common in volcanic regions. 1959Listener 30 July 172/2 The Trojans, whose mean distances from the Sun are the same as that of Jupiter, so that they lie far beyond the main swarm [of asteroids]. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iii. 105 Many swarms of meteors orbit the Sun and some periodically intersect the orbit of the Earth causing meteor showers. 1979Nature 25 Oct. 661/1 Earthquake swarms, consisting of many earthquakes of nearly equal magnitude within a small area, often occur in areas of recent or current volcanic or tectonic activity. 1981I. Ridpath Young Astronomer's Handbk. 197/1 At various times of the year, the Earth crosses the orbits of certain comets, encountering whole swarms of meteors.
(d) Biol. A cluster of free-swimming cells or unicellular organisms moving in company.
1900B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms.
(e) Ecol. = hybrid swarm s.v. hybrid a. 3.
1926Nature 30 Oct. 624/1 Where a specific name has been given to a smaller group within the swarm..we may adopt this name for the minor group. 1963Davis & Heywood Princ. Angiosperm Taxon. xiv. 483 Hybrids..may even become established and form large swarms many miles from either parent.
3. attrib. and Comb.: swarm-formation; swarm-cell Biol. = swarm-spore (a); swarm-movement Biol., the movement of swarm-spores in ‘swarming’ (swarm v.1 1 c); swarm-spore Biol. (cf. swarm v.1 1 c), (a) a motile spore in certain Algæ, Fungi, and Protozoa, a zoospore; (b) the free-swimming embryo or gemmule of freshwater sponges.
1882Vines tr. Sachs's Bot. 38 Much quicker movements..occur in cells either before their growth, as in *swarm-cells, or when it is nearly completed.
1946Nature 21 Sept. 423/1 The most important biological attribute of an outbreak centre is to provide conditions for survival and multiplication of locusts at those times when their range of dispersal is at a minimum, and also to provide conditions necessary for an increase in that range of dispersal (by *swarm-formation). 1953J. S. Huxley Evolution in Action iii. 72 At least six species [of malaria-carrying mosquitoes] must be distinguished..some mating without swarm-formation, others requiring the stimulus of swarming.
1898Porter tr. Strasburger's Bot. i. i. 50 The swarm-spores of the Myxomycetes soon lose this characteristic *swarm-movement.
1859J. R. Greene Man. Anim. Kingd., Protozoa 42 Ciliated *swarm spores, similar to those which are found in Spongilla. 1874A. W. Bennett in Pop. Sci. Rev. XIII. 29 The production of spontaneously motile zoospores, or ‘swarm-spores’. 1880Bessey Botany 36 The swarm-spores..are naked masses of freely moving protoplasm.
▪ II. swarm, v.1|swɔːm|
Also 4–7 swarme, (5 swerme), 6 Sc. suarm, 7 Sc. swairme.
[f. swarm n.: cf. MLG., MHG. swarmen; also, with mutation, OE. *swierman, swirman, MLG., MDu. swermen (Du. zwermen), MHG. swärmen (G. schwärmen), Sw. svärma, Da. sværme.]
1. intr. Of bees: To gather in a compact cluster and leave the hive in a body to found a new colony: see swarm n. 1. Also with off.
c1386Chaucer Sompn. Prol. 29 Right so as bees out swarmen [Corpus & Camb. MSS. swermen] from an hyue. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 114 Take heede to thy bees, that are readie to swarme. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. v. (1623) I 3, Those that swarme before the blowing of knap-weed come in very good time. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 28 The youthful Prince, with loud allarm, Calls out the vent'rous Colony to swarm. 1818Scott Rob Roy xvii, Ye see this is the second swarm, and whiles they will swarm off in the afternoon. The first swarm set off sune in the morning. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 502/1 It often happens that bees give every indication of an intention to swarm, and cluster idly outside the hive..for..weeks before they really emigrate.
b. allusively: cf. swarm n. 1 b.
1609Bible (Douay) 2 Macc. i. 12 He made them swarme out of Persis. 1745Season. Adv. Protest. 17 Protestants, who from a common Ancestor..have swarmed into many Stocks. 1821–30Ld. Cockburn Mem. vii. (1874) 401 Jealousies and dissensions..induced the artists to swarm off, and begin the Academy. 1909J. T. Fowler in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. XX. 1 The number of monks increased so rapidly that they were soon obliged to swarm off, like bees, into new monasteries of the same Order.
c. Biol. Of certain spores or reproductive bodies: To escape from the parent organism in a swarm, with characteristic movement; to move or swim about in a swarm, as zoospores (‘swarm-spores’) do in the cell just before escaping, and in the water after escaping.
1864,1882[see swarming ppl. a. 4, vbl. n. 2]. 1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs's Bot. 674 In Algæ of simple structure..the swarmspores are also formed in the night, but swarm only with access of daylight.
d. trans. in causative sense.
1827J. F. Cooper Prairie iv, ‘Swarm your own hive’, returned the discontented bee-hunter.
2. intr. To come together in a swarm or dense crowd; to collect, assemble, or congregate thickly and confusedly; to crowd, throng; also, to go or move along in a crowd.
c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 181 Greet was the prees þat swarmeth to and fro To gauren on this hors that stondeth so. 1513Douglas æneis vi. v. 23 Thiddir to the bray swarmit all the rout Of deid gaistis. 1515Barclay Egloges ii. (1570) B iv/2 If the dishe be pleasaunt,..Ten handes at once swarme in the dishe. 1526Tindale Acts xxi. 30 All the cite was moved, and all the people swarmed togedder. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. (1895) 179 All the people were swarmed furth into the stretes. 1604Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 96 They swarme like Crickets to the creuice of a Brew-house. 1764Burn Poor Laws 205 The religious houses sent abroad their friers mendicant, who swarmed about the kingdom. 1847Tennyson Princess Concl. 37 The crowd were swarming now, To take their leave, about the garden rails. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. iv. 126 The English were swarming out of this inn. 1875Jowett Plato IV. 233 The ideas swarming in men's minds.
3. To occur or exist in swarms or multitudes; to be densely crowded or congregated; to be very numerous, abound excessively. (Often in reproach or contempt, esp. when said of persons.)
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 21 Signes þat swarmed so thikke Þoru-oute his lond..Þat [etc.]. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 54 Their bodies whiche swarmed euery day about thenglishe shippes. 1570Googe Pop. Kingd. iv. (1880) 47 b, Puddings every wheare Do swarme. 1594Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. iii. ii, When falshood swarmeth both in old and youth. 1634Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 13 Arminians, Brownists, and Anabaptists, and Manists, do lurk here and also swarm. a1700Evelyn Diary 19 Aug. 1641, The Sectaries that swarm'd in this Citty. 1721Bailey, To Swarm..to abound, spoken of Vermin. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 765 Bright legions swarm unseen, and sing..the glorious Architect. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 239 Roman Catholics already swarmed in every department of the public service. 1883Gilmour Mongols xv. 167 Native doctors swarm in Mongolia.
4. to swarm with: to be crowded or thronged with; to contain swarms or great numbers of; to abound greatly in. Now only in material sense.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 46 The countree swarmed with men of warre. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. vii. 49 They that swarme with much greater vices. a1592Greene Jas. IV, v. ii, Oh, what are subtile meanes to clime on high, When euery fall swarmes with exceeding shame? 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iv. 47 Her wholesome Herbes, Swarming with Caterpillers. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 400 Each Creek & Bay With Frie innumerable swarme. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §13 All kinds of animals, with which the creation swarms. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 484 A market-place swarming with buyers and sellers. 1893W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 269 The river swarmed with alligators.
†b. Similarly, to swarm full of, to swarm in.
1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 40 The lenthe of that valey..was so full of fowyls, as hyues swarmyn ful of bees. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 36 They shall not onely not take awaye theyr sectes, but increase and swarme in the same. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. iii. (1634) 127 The soule..while it swarmeth full of such diseases of vices. 1694Atterbury Serm., Prov. xiv. 6 (1726) I. 198 The Great Lords of the Earth, who swarm in all the Delights of Sense.
5. trans. To fill or beset as, or with, a swarm; to crowd densely, throng. Chiefly pass.
1555Eden Decades iii. (Arb.) 188 The barbarians..came swarmyng the bankes on bothe sydes the ryuer, to the number of syxe thousande men. 1559Mirr. Mag., Induct. lxxv, The rout Gan all in heapes to swarme vs round about. a1586Sidney Ps. xxxii. vii, Who on God his trust invokes With mercies shall be swarmed. 1647Fanshawe æneid iv. Poems 287 How did thy sences quayle Seeing the shoares so swarm'd. 1810Sporting Mag. XXXV. 8 Your house is so swarmed with rats. 1823Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 121 Poor wretches, who marry upon the strength of this pied-à-terre, and swarm the little spot they occupy with children. 1847Zoologist V. 1899 Brighton was swarmed with lady⁓birds on Saturday and Sunday. 1886R. L. de Beaufort Lett. Geo. Sand I. 130 You will also see the towers of Notre Dame; they are swarmed with swallows.
6. To breed or produce a swarm of. rare—1.
1842Tennyson Will Waterproof xxv, Ere days, that deal in ana, swarm'd His [sc. the Poet's] literary leeches.
▪ III. swarm, v.2|swɔːm|
[Of unascertained origin.
Perh. orig. a sailor's word borrowed from the Continent, but no trace of the meaning has been discovered for phonetically corresponding words. Cf. the synonymous swarve v.2 and etymol. remarks s.v. swarm n.
Connexion with squirm is out of the question, on historical and phonological grounds.]
1. intr. To climb up († upon) a pole, tree, or the like, by clasping it with the arms and legs alternately.
15..Sir A. Barton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 72 Then he swarmd up the maine mast tree [cf. swarve v.2, quot. a 1650]. c1550[see swarve v.2]. 1607Dekker Knt.'s Conjur. B j b, The waues..boylde vp to such heigth, as if they meant that all men should swarm in heauen, and shippes to sayle in the Skie. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. iii. iv. §3 Swarming upon Trees as nimbly as Cats. 1701C. Wolley Jrnl. New York (1860) 41 We follow'd a Bear from Tree to Tree, upon which he could swarm like a Cat. 1804Naval Chron. XI. 103 He swarms up to his seat. 1872Calverley Fly Leaves, Changed v, They fright me, when the beech is green, By swarming up its stem for eggs. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 433, I..could have swarmed up the branchless stem of the sapling.
b. transf. To climb a steep ascent or the like by clinging with the hands and knees, or in some way compared to this.
1681Cotton Wond. Peak (ed. 4) 17 Having swarm'd sevenscore paces up,..you find a kind of Floor. 1848Dickens Dombey ii, The smallest boy but one divining her intent, immediately began swarming upstairs after her—if that word of doubtful etymology be admissible—on his arms and legs. 1851Helps Comp. Solit. vi. (1874) 98 People who are swarming up a difficult ascent. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xviii. 107 Onward she held her course, swarming steadily forward in long gliding curtseyings over each frothing surge.
2. trans. with the pole, etc. as obj.
1668H. More Div. Dial. i. ii. vi. 207 Endowing them with such..Nimbleness in swarming of trees, as Apes..have now. a1769Johnson in Boswell Life (1831) IV. 451 Why, I can swarm it now, [replied Dr Johnson,..on which he ran to the tree, clung round the trunk, and ascended to the branches]. 1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 23 Like swarming the bannisters of a stair-case. 1859F. E. Paget Curate of Cumberworth 72 She rushed towards a clean-stemmed beech, apparently with the intention of swarming it. |