| 释义 |
▪ I. earwig|ˈɪəwɪg|
Forms: 1, 2 earwicga, (1 eorwicga), 5 erwyge, ȝerwigge, erewygge, 6 erwygge, (herewigge), 6–7 earwigge, 7 earwick, earewigg, 6– earwig.
[OE. éarwicga, f. éar-e, ear n.1 +OE. wicga earwig; cf. wiggle v. to wriggle. See also arwygyll. Cf. Fr. perce-oreille, Ger. ohr-wurm.]
1. An insect, Forficula auricularia, so called from the notion that it penetrates into the head through the ear.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 122 Blatta, erowicga. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 44 Wiþ earwicgan, ᵹenim þæt micle greate windel streaw twyecᵹe..ceop on þæt eare he bið of sona. 14..Voc. Harl. MS. 1002 in Promp. Parv. 143 note, Auriolus, a ȝerwigge. c1450MS. Sloane 4. 80 in N. & Q. iii. VI. 4 Y⊇ blacke flye, y⊇ erwyge, y⊇ old waspys. 1547Salesbury Welsh Dict., Pryf klustioc, an erwygge. 1601Holland Pliny II. 300 If an earwig..be gotten into the eare..spit into the same, and it will come forth anon. a1643W. Cartwright Poems (1651) (N.) I'm afraid 'Tis with one worm, one earwick overlaid. 1727Swift To Young Lady, To fall into fits at the sight of a spider, an earwig or a frog. a1845Hood Tale of Trumpet ix, No verbal message was worth a pin, Though you hired an earwig to carry it in!
¶ Perhaps with a pun on heretic.
1563Foxe A. & M. (1631) III. xii. 988/2 He was once at the burning of an Herewigge (for so hee termed it) at Uxbridge.
†2. fig. An ear whisperer, flatterer, parasite.
1633Ford Broken H. ii. i, That gawdy earwig, or my lord your patron, Whose pensioner you are. 1688Pol. Ballads (1860) I. 260 Court earwigs banish from your ears. 1758Herald II. 46 The earwigs of royalty..will not hereafter be suffered to mislead majesty by whispering, etc.
3. Comb., as † earwig-brain, one who has a ‘maggot’ or craze in his brain.
1599Nashe Lent. Stuffe 74 Eight score more galliard cross-points, and kickshiwinshes, of giddy ear-wig brains.
▪ II. earwig, v.|ˈɪəwɪg|
[f. the n.]
1. a. To pester with private importunities or admonitions. b. To influence, bias (a person) by secret communications; to insinuate oneself into the confidence of (a person).
1837Marryat Dog-fiend (L.), He was so sure to be earwigged in private that what he heard or said openly went for little. 1839Dickens O. Twist (1850) 251/2 Suppose he was to do all this..not grabbed, trapped, tried, earwigged by the parson..but of his own fancy. 1839Blackw. Mag. XLV. 767 Each secretary of state is earwigged by a knot of sturdy beggars. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Earwigging, feeding an officer's ear with scandal against an absent individual.
2. in pa. pple. ? Having a ‘maggot’ or craze in one's brain. nonce-use.
1880Browning Pietro of Abano 340 The people clamour, Hold their peace, now fight, now fondle, earwigged through the brains. |