| 释义 |
ˈrat-tailed, a.
[f. rat n.1 Cf. prec.]
1. a. Having a tail like that of a rat; esp. of horses, having a rat-tail.
1684Lond. Gaz. No. 1950/4 A Black Nag,..Mareheaded, and Rat-tailed. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Rat-tailed, a horse is thus called that has no hair upon his tail. 1828Sporting Mag. XXII. 231 A lean, rat-tailed mare. 1845Youatt Dog 31 He selected a bull-dog, one of the smooth rat-tailed species. 1890Pall Mall G. 4 Jan. 6/2 The miserable little rat-tailed, greyhound beasts that furnish what is called mutton in this country.
b. of the larva of a drone-fly (Eristalis) having a long slender flexible respiratory organ resembling a tail. In full, rat-tailed maggot.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Rat-tailed worms, in natural history, a species of fly-worms, with long tails, resembling those of rats. 1768Arscott in Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) III. 335 Blowing flies and humble bees that come from the rat-tailed maggot. [In Polwhele's Devon (1793) I. 124 note, ‘rat-tail maggot’.] 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 874/1 The rat-tailed larva of Eristalis tenax. 1895L. C. Miall Nat. Hist. Aquatic Insects ii. 198 The Rat-tailed Maggot, a common inhabitant of stagnant pools. 1935Discovery July 212/1 The problem [of breathing under water] had been solved long before by the rat-tailed maggot, with its telescopic tube reaching to the surface. 1952J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles ii. 27 The larvae of one or two insects, such as the Rat-tailed Maggot,..are well adapted for living in the black mud at the bottom of these unwholesome waters. 1968Oxf. Bk. Insects 130/2 They swim freely, breathing through their long tails, which can be extended to 6 inches to reach the water surface—hence their name Rat-tailed Maggots.
c. spec. in the names of certain animals.
rat-tailed kangaroo (see quot. 1846). rat-tailed serpent, an American viper (Bothrops lanceolatus). rat-tailed shrew, the musk-rat. rat-tailed snake, the fer-de-lance.
1846Waterhouse Nat. Hist. Mamm. I. 224 Hypsiprymnus Murinus, Rat-tailed Hypsiprymnus, or Rat-Kangaroo. Ibid., Index, Rat-tailed Rat-Kangaroo. 1854Davy West Indies 273 [St. Lucia] possesses besides several kinds of harmless snakes, one that is poisonous, the rat-tailed snake. 1871Kingsley At Last ii, We were..anxious to obtain at St. Lucia specimens of that abominable reptile, the Fer-de-lance, or rat-tailed snake. 1884Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 378 The Rat-tailed Shrew.
d. In the names of certain plants, esp. rat-tailed radish, an Asian radish, Raphanus caudatus, cultivated for its edible fruit. Cf. rat-tail 5.
1867Gardeners' Chron. 3 Aug. 807/1, I shall continue to grow the Rat-tailed Radish. 1885W. Robinson tr. Vilmorin-Andrieux's Veg. Garden 499 Rat-tailed Radish... The edible part of this Radish is not the root, but the silique or seed-vessel, which is gathered before it is fully grown. 1949Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 213/2 In India the rat-tailed radish..is grown for its fleshy, edible seed pods. 1969Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 170/2 The Rat-tailed Radish..is grown in southern Asia. The part eaten is not the root but the fruit, which reaches a length of 8 to 10 inches.
2. a. Of a spoon: Having a tail-like prolongation of the handle along the back of the bowl.
1881M. E. Braddon Asph. III. 21 The slender little rat-tailed spoons.
b. Of a comb: having a long, tapering, handle at one end. Cf. rat-tail comb s.v. rat-tail 5.
1973Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 15 July 1/3 It turned out to be an ordinary, black rat-tailed comb. |