| 释义 |
▪ I. eager
var. form of eagre, tidal wave.
▪ II. eager, a.|ˈiːgə(r)|
Forms: 3–7 egre, 4–5 egor, egyr, 4–6 egir, 5 eegre, 5–6 aygre, 6 eigre, eygre, eger, egar, aeygre, 7 ægre, 6– eager.
[a. OF. aigre sharp, keen, sour:—L. acre-m acc. of acer sharp, pungent, swift, strenuous.
(Senses 1, 2, 4, 5 are taken from Fr.; 6 seems a specially Eng. development.)]
I. Of material things or physical conditions.
†1.
a. Pungent, acrid, keen to the taste or other senses. Of medicines: Sharp or violent in operation. Of diseases: Acute, severe. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. (1868) i. v. 25 A more myȝty and more egre medicine. 1544Phaër Regim. Lyfe (1546) I j, Those diseases are excedynge egre, sharp and almost importable of peyne. 1574Newton Health Mag. 14 To mingle..sweete and toothsome with sower and eigre. c1600Shakes. Sonn. cxviii, To make our appetites more keene With eager compounds we our pallat vrge. 1601Holland Pliny xix. v, Of all this bulbous kind, the Sea-onyon is reputed chiefe..there is not any more ægre and biting than it.
b. Said of cold (after quot. 1602).
1602Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 2 It is a nipping and an eager ayre. 1854J. Kennedy Swallow B. (1860) 100 Imparted an eager chilliness to the atmosphere. 1884Stevenson New Arab. Nts. 180 The eager air of the seaside.
†c. fig. Of words: Biting, keen. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Melib. ⁋212 Thou shalt rather..flee fro the sweete wordes of flaterynge preiseres than fro the egre wordes of thy freend. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 68 Vex him with eager Words. ― Rich. II, i. i. 49 The bitter clamour of two eager tongues.
†2. spec. Sour, acid, tart. Obs. [So Fr. aigre.]
c1350Med. MS. in Archæol. XXX. 352 Eysyl or egyr wyn. c1460–70Bk. Quintessence 4 Corrupt wiyn, þat is, rotyn, but not egre. 1575Art of Planting 39 The wylde and eager Cherry tree. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. v. 69 It doth posset And curd like Aygre droppings into Milke. a1717Parnell Hermit 39 Bread of the coursest sort, with eager wine. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. I. s.v. Brewing, It was hard to brew Drink which would be fine before it was eager.
3.
†a. Of a cutting instrument: Sharp (obs. rare.)
b. techn. Of certain tools: ‘Biting’ keenly.
c1611Chapman Iliad x. 150 The eager razor's edge. 1831J. Holland Manuf. Metals II. 139 [The tool represented in the figure] is what the artisan calls an eager tool, and is used for roughing the work; it has a..semicircular edge, so formed as to bite keenly.
†4. Of metals: Imperfectly tempered, brittle. Obs. [So Fr. aigre, opposed to doux.]
1580North Plutarch 378 The Iron Coyn of Sparta..was so eager and brittle by means of this temper, that, etc. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. §35 Gold will be sometimes so eager..that it will as little endure the Hammer as Glass itself. 1763–6W. Lewis in Phil. Trans. XCIII. 78 note, Iron or steel..render gold hard and eager.
II. Of living beings or their attributes.
†5.
a. Strenuous, ardent, impetuous; fierce, angry. Said of persons, their actions and attributes. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. 80 Þis Britones were so egre..þat þo Romaynes and here kyng gonne fle atte laste. c1380Sir Ferumb. 144 Roland answerede wyþ egre mod. c1400Destr. Troy 5445 Ymasus, yrfull, egor of wille. 1475Bk. Noblesse, Cruell and egre werre. 1485Malory Arthur i. xiv (1817) With an egyr countenaunce. 1513Douglas æneis ix. xi. 28 Egyr of thar wyllis. 1555Fardle Facions Pref. 17 Echone contendeth with eigre mode and bitter dispute. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. ii. 137 His most ægre enemy. 1667Decay Chr. Piety ix. §1. 298 Glut the eagerest malice. 1733Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. viii. §7 (1734) 201 When the Conflict..is very hot, brisk, and eager, we all agree to call it a Fever.
†b. Of beasts and birds of prey: Fierce, savage. Also transf. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 1143 Egre as is a Tygre. 1530Palsgr. 311/1 Egar, fierce..as a wyld beest is. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 The southwynd merciles eager.
6. a. Of persons: Full of keen desire or appetite; impatiently longing to do or obtain something. Const. inf.; after, for, † of (the thing desired); about, in, † upon (a task, matter, or concern). Also of desires or appetites: Intense, impatient. eager beaver [beaver1 (cf. 1 d)]: a glutton for work; an over-zealous or officious person; also attrib. and transf. (colloq., orig. U.S.).
c1400Destr. Troy 3753 Menelay the mighty was..Auntrus in armys, eger of wer. 1561Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc 1008 After bloud so eigre were thy thirst. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 6 Eger greedinesse. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. I. 40 He..found others to be less eager in the pursuit of his Friendship. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. ix. 432 Eager of fame, and of the promis'd Prize. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. 319 The Captain was so eager..that he could hardly have Patience to let him come so near as to be sure of him. 1732Law Serious C. xii. (ed 2) 189 He is eager upon it. 1751Johnson Rambl. No. 153 ⁋5 Eager of any intelligence that might increase it. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. I. ii. 133 She had become acquainted with the eager and impatient temper of the nation. 1769― Chas. V, III. vii. 2 He was eager for war. 1793Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 177, I am not now so eager about your coming to town as I was. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 291 The enemy..being eager in plundering the baggage of the dead. 1836Thirlwall Greece III. xix. 106 They are..eager for foreign expeditions. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps v. §10. 146 How much of imperfection..the eyes of those eager builders could endure. 1883Manch. Exam. 26 Nov. 4/2 Makers are not eager to book fresh orders. 1943Daily Nebraskan 7 Nov., Eager Beaver, anyone who has the slightest conception of what physics is all about. 1947Sat. Even. Post 16 Aug. 122/1 Before photostating my application, some eager beaver..helpfully typed the address. 1948Time 5 July 1/1 It would be futile to play that game against Republican Earl Warren, one of the foremost spokesmen of the eager-beaver West. 1958E. Dundy Dud Avocado i. i. 11 The Eager-Beaver-Culture-Vulture with the list ten yards long, who just manages to get it all crossed off before she collapses of aesthetic indigestion each night. 1959Observer 24 May 27/8 The British pack were like a set of eager beavers. 1959Spectator 29 May 753/1 Well-meaning state social workers..and eager-beaver politicos lavish with praise and perquisites, are not helping him.
b. Of actions, gestures, looks, etc.: Characterized by or manifesting alacrity or impatient desire.
Phrases like eager conflict, pursuit, originally belonged rather to 5, but modern feeling connects them with this sense.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 645 Early Visitants, With eager Eyes devouring..The breathing Figures of Corinthian Brass. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §16 Wks. 1871 II. 84 Those gentlemen who are called men of pleasure, from their eager pursuit of it. 1853Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xi. (1876) 131 An epistle abounding with the most earnest and eager controversy. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 253 The unconsciously eager way in which he looked at the eatables. 1873Buckle Civilis. viii. 457 Eager in upholding rights of kings.
†7. spec. Hungry (? orig. techn. in Falconry). Of the eyes: Hungry-looking. Obs.
1486Bk. St. Albans C vj, The hawke will be very eegre and gleetous of the seekeness. 1575Turberv. Bk. Falconrie 160 When your falcons be skoured and cleane so as beyng sharp set they may be called hungrie hawkes, or as faulconers tearme them eagre hawkes. 1693W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 516 Eager or sharp set, i.e. hungry. 1712Steele Spect. No. 266 ⁋2 Her eyes were wan and eager. 1766Anstey Bath Guide v. 75 Your Frenchman so eager, With all his Soup Meagre.
III. Comb., as eager-eyed, eager-hearted, eager-looking adjs.; also † eager-dulce, -sweet a., acid and sweet. [Cf. aigre-doux, agrodolce.]
1820Keats Eve St. Agnes iv, The carved angels, ever eager-eyed. 1805Wordsw. Incid. Favourite Dog 11 Every dog is eager-hearted. 1825Bro. Jonathan II. 77 His eager-looking red eyes. 1548Udall Erasm. Par. Luke 3 a, The eagredulce sauce of the paraphrase. Ibid. Pref. 5 b, If with vinegre it be made eagredulce. Ibid. 3 Eagredulce. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 416 As concerning Ciders..the eager sweet are much better..than the harsh sweet.
▪ III. † ˈeager, v. Obs.
Also 4–5 egren.
[ad. OF. aigrier, aigroier; cf. prec.]
trans. To excite, irritate, provoke; in quot. 1581 to irritate physically; also refl. to become exasperated.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. (1868) iv. vi. 141 Þe nature of som man is so..vncouenable þat..pouerte..myȝte raþer egren hym to done felonies. c1400Destr. Troy 7329 He angurt hym full euyll, & egerd hym with. 1581Mulcaster Positions xvi. (1887) 77 They that be gawled or byled within, may neither runne nor wrastle, for eagering the inward. |