| 释义 |
▪ I. taste, n.1|teɪst|
Forms: 4–8 tast, 4–5 taast, 4–6 (Sc. –7) taist, (6 Sc. test), 5– taste.
[a. OF. tast touching, touch, = It. tasto a feeling, a touch, a trial, a taste (Florio); f. OF. taster (mod.F. tâter), It. tastare: see taste v. Cf. also OF. taste, It. tasta, a surgical probe.]
I.
†1. The sense of touch, feeling (with the hands, etc.); the act of touching, touch. Obs.
[1292Britton iii. ii. §13 Et puis soynt chargez qe eles..enquergent de la femme qe se fet enceynte par tast de soen ventre et de ses mameles.] 13..Cursor M. 542 (Cott.) Þis vnder wynd him gis his aand, Þe erth þe tast, to fele and faand. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 208 The taste is a commyn witte, Spraden throgh the body, but hit Shewyth hym most by the handys..; by that witte we knowen hote, colde, dry, moyste, and other Suche thynges. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxii. (1869) 42 At the taast, and at the sighte, at the smellinge, and at the sauouringe, bred and wyn it may seeme.
†2.
a. A trying, testing; a trial, test, examination.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 131 Kynde witte cometh of alkynnes siȝtes,..of tastes of treuthe, and of deceytes. 1586–7Queen Elizabeth in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 30 To make tast of the greatest witz amongs my owne, and then of French and last of you. 1605Shakes. Lear i. ii. 47, I hope for my Brothers iustification, hee wrote this but as an essay, or taste of my Vertue. 1663Flagellum, or O. Cromwell (1672) 155 To appoint a Tast or Recognition of the Government.
†b. A trial, an attempt. Obs. rare—1.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5400 He wende haue taken þe toun in hast, Bot he failled of his tast.
II.
†3.
a. The act of tasting, or perceiving the flavour of a thing with the organ of taste (sense 4); the fact of being tasted. Obs.
13..Coer de L. 3075 When he has a good tast, And eeten weel a good repast. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 357 Þere-of we taken a tast what time þat vs nedeþ. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 228 Tauerners ‘a tast for nouht’ tolden þe same. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 176 For before the tast of the Gospel I was worse then a beast. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. vi. 13 The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his owne deliciousnesse, And in the taste confoundes the appetite. 1667Milton P.L. i. 2 The Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe. 1766Entick London IV. 367 They obtained a grant of..the taste and assize of bread.
b. transf. The means of tasting; hence, such a small quantity as admits of being tasted; a very small quantity (esp. of alcoholic drink), a sip; spec. (U.S. slang), an alcoholic drink; alcohol.
1530in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 91 He sent for the tast of wyne..dew to him of every hoggshed. 15..Aberdeen Reg. (Jam.), And send one taist of the wyne to the yerll of Rothes. 1723S. Sewall Diary 4 Apr., My wife sent them a Taste of her Dinner. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxxviii, Bring me a taste of grog, will ye? 1904in Eng. Dial. Dict. [from Scotl., Irel., N. Engl.]. 1919E. O'Neill Rope in Moon of Caribbees 202 Will ye have a taste? It's real stuff. 1966New Yorker 25 June 33 Why don't you stop up Wednesday, and we'll have a taste. 1973T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 162, I view such terms as ‘pluck’ for wine and ‘taste’ for liquor as embodying an action element retained from its more conventional use as a verb. 1976New Yorker 1 Mar. 84/2 He said, ‘Take me for a taste.’ We went into a bar, and I thought he'd settle down for a few, but he only had two shots. 1978Maledicta 1977 I. 224 Had a complete and unabetting weakness for taste (liquor).
c. fig. A slight experience, received or given; a slight show or sample of any condition or quality.
1390Gower Conf. II. 373 Whanne I beclippe hire on the wast, Yit ate leste I stele a tast. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 234 That is none other thynge but a taste how swete our lord Jesu is. 1586Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) A ij b, Socrates in his cradle had no taste of his after-wise⁓dome. c1595Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 40 Most of them havinge some little tast of the Spanish tounge. 1669Penn No Cross xxi. §39 A soul Mortified to the World, and quickned to some Tasts of a Supernatural Life. 1825Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Superannuated Man, Where was..the promised rest? Before I had a taste of it, it was banished. 1897A. Morrison Dorrington Deedbox i, My first taste of grouse-shooting was a complete success.
d. a taste (advb.): colloq. to a small but perceptible degree; slightly; a little. Cf. bit n.2 5.
1894Hall Caine Manxman i. v, Aisy! Your legs a taste higher, sir, just to keep the pickle off your trousers. Ibid. iii. xii, ‘Nancy will tidy the room a taste’, she said coaxingly.
4. a. The faculty or sense by which that particular quality of a thing described in 5 is discerned, the organs of which are situated chiefly in the mouth; one of the five bodily senses.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 87 Whan þer tast is freishe, for to juge þe goodnesse, and after whan þei ben drunken and þer taist failiþ, þanne he puttiþ wers wyn. c1394P. Pl. Crede 537 Þanne haue y tynt all my tast touche and assaie! 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xx. (1495) d vj b/2, The taast is a wytte of knowynge sauours. 1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Horses (1627) 111 Sometimes a horse will loose his tast, which commeth of sorrow. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 166 Second childishnesse, and meere obliuion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans euery thing. 1680Morden Geog. Rect., Germany (1685) 119 Fruits more pleasant to the sight or tast. 1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. i. 49 Taste is a species of touch of still more delicate character. 1884Cornh. Mag. Dec. 620 Taste..is not equally distributed over the whole surface of the tongue alike.
b. out of taste, not able to distinguish flavours.
a1541Wyatt Sonnets xviii, And if I have, after such bitterness, One drop of sweet, my mouth is out of taste. 1646W. Jenkyn Remora 20 The palat..is put out of taste. 1729Swift Direct. Servants, Footman ⁋28 Your mistress will confess that her mouth is out of taste.
5. a. That quality or property of a body or substance which is perceived when it is brought into contact with certain organs of the mouth, etc., esp. the tongue; savour, sapidity; the particular sensation excited by anything in this manner.
1382Wyclif Jer. xlviii. 11 Therfore abod stille his tast in hym, and his smel is not chaungid. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 273 Full gode fissch..of right goode tast. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 15 Damysyns wiche withe her taste delyte. 1535Coverdale Wisd. xvi. 2 A new & straunge taist. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 11 A far more liuely & penetratiue tast. 1605Timme Quersit. i. v. 19 Diuers kindes of saltes..haue diuers tastes. 1702J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 87 The acid Taste of this Recrement, and its coagulating of Milk, are undoubted. 1800tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 74 Iron..has a styptic taste, very sensible. 1857Miller Elem. Chem. (1862) III. 161 Sometimes a wine acquires a peculiar flavour known as the ‘taste of the cask’.
fig.14..Hoccleve Compl. Virgin 213 Ther-in fynde I a bittir taast; For now the taast I feele & the streynynge Of deeth. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 176 How comfortable is the feeling and tast of grace. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. v. 9, I haue almost forgot the taste of Feares. 1720Mrs. Manley Power of Love (1741) III. 187 All the Favours upon Earth, from the greatest Beauties could have no Taste for Roderigo.
†b. Odour, scent, smell. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 1668 Þat smelt is & smethe, smellis full swete, With taste for to touche the tabull aboute. c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 850 Frankensence and olibanum That whan ye slepe the taste may come.
c. In fig. phr. a bad (or nasty) taste in the mouth and varr., a lingering feeling of repugnance or disgust left behind by a distasteful or unpleasant experience.
1857Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë II. viii. 186 They [sc. Balzac's novels] leave such a bad taste in my mouth. 1899R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. ii. xxv. 255 Never before have I heard such a speech... ‘Sort o' gives yer a nasty taste in the mouth,’ says Low Covey. 1904Daily News 14 Dec. 5 The poems leave a nasty taste in the mouth; the taste of a snarl and a sneer. 1943Sun (Baltimore) 22 Apr. 18/1 A decidedly sour taste was left by the opening number. 1969R. Harper World of Thriller ii. 71 When all the characters are corrupt or shoddy, the reader goes away with a bad taste in his mouth. 1979R. Perry Bishop's Pawn iv. 70 It had taken me nearly an hour to go through the dossier and when I'd finished reading I had a nasty taste in my mouth.
III. †6. Mental perception of quality; judgement, discriminative faculty. Obs. exc. as in 8.
13..Cursor M. 11327 (Cott.) Þis symeon þat had his tast Toched o þe hali gast. a1425Ibid. 18889 (Trin.) Þe salmes seiþ bi good taast His wonynge shulde be wilde & waast. 1502W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione i. xxii. 171 Thou hast no spirituall tast. 1692Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 350 If so be they demand of me..more than discretion in Commerce, and a taste in Confidence.
7. a. The fact or condition of liking or preferring something; inclination, liking for; † appreciation.
c1477Caxton Jason 72 Therfore wille thou..employ thy corage after the taste of our desires. 1552Godly Prayers in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 253 That we..may have some taste and feeling for it in our hearts. c1580T. Hacket Treas. Amadis 236 She hath somewhat a regarde to things that are agaynst my owne taste. 1635N. R. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. 153 From the time that I had any tast of Religion. 1711Addison Spect. No. 93 ⁋13 A Man that has a Taste of Musick, Painting, or Architecture. 1727Pope, etc. Art of Sinking 73 The taste of the bathos is implanted by nature itself in the soul of man. 1728Swift Intelligencer No. 3 ⁋3 Whoever hath a taste for true humour. 1791E. Inchbald Simp. Story III. v. 70 She had acquired a taste for those amusements. 1838Lytton Alice i. ix, The other girl is more amusing, more to my taste. 1880L. Stephen Pope iv. 86 Every opportunity for the indulgence of his favourite tastes.
†b. Enjoyment, pleasure, ‘relish’. Const. in, of.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 150 He found not in himselfe any disposition to goe to any other place, nor to take any taste in any thing. a1716Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 15 The Happiness of a Man's life consists not in the Abundance of the things that he possesses..But in the taste and relish that he has of them.
c. transf. The object of one's liking or preference.
1739G. Stone in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 392 White beauties..are the taste of the Irish nation.
8. a. The sense of what is appropriate, harmonious, or beautiful; esp. discernment and appreciation of the beautiful in nature or art; spec. the faculty of perceiving and enjoying what is excellent in art, literature, and the like.
1671Milton P.R. iv. 347 Sion's songs, to all true tasts excelling Where God is prais'd aright. 1694Congreve Double Dealer i. ii, No, no, hang him, he has no Taste. 1712Addison Spect. No. 409 ⁋1 Rules..how we may acquire that fine Taste of Writing, which is so much talked of among the Polite World. 1768W. Gilpin Ess. Prints 160 There is a fine taste in his landskips. 1776Sir J. Reynolds Disc. Art (1778) 311, I have mentioned taste in dress, which is certainly one of the lowest subjects to which this word is applied. 1784J. Barry in Lect. Paint. ii. (1848) 108 The word Taste, as applied to objects of vision,..means..that quick discerning faculty or power of the mind by which we accurately distinguish the good, bad, or indifferent. a1834Coleridge Treat. Method i. (1849) 16 A fine Musical taste is soon dissatisfied with the Harmonica, or any similar instrument of glass or steel. 1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 254 Taste is displayed both in the forms and grouping of the figures, and the disposition of the colours. 1850W. Irving Goldsmith xxvii. 268 The latter part of the year 1768 had been made memorable in the world of taste by the institution of the Royal Academy of Arts. 1872W. Minto Eng. Prose Lit. Introd. 29 The word taste..in its wider sense is equivalent to artistic sensibility,..in its narrower sense it may be expressed as artistic judgment.
b. Style or manner exhibiting æsthetic discernment; good or bad æsthetic quality; the style or manner favoured in any age or country.
1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 44 The People who design'd and executed London-Bridge, and other Bridges in the same Taste. 1755Compl. Lett.-writer (1759) 227 Her own old-fashioned breast-plate in the taste of the last century. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxviii, A rich habit, which partook more of the Eastern taste than that of Europe. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xii, Nothing could be more moderate, or, as Miss Gusset said, ‘in better taste’. 1843Borrow Bible in Spain xxxvi. (Pelh. Libr.) 256 It was..built something in the Moorish taste.
IV.
9. attrib. and Comb., as taste-area, taste-centre, taste-fibre, taste-leader, taste-maker, taste-meter, taste-organ; taste-pleasing adj.; taste-beaker, -bulb, -goblet, former names for the taste-bud; taste-blindness Biol. (see quot. 1934); so taste-blind a.; taste-bud, a group of cells in the epithelium of the tongue etc., through which the faculty of taste operates; also fig.; taste-cell: see quot.; taste-corpuscle = taste-cell; taste-cup, -pit, one of the minute pits found on the epipharynx of an insect, having in the centre a peg, the termination of a nerve; taste-hair, one of the setæ or bristles, near the mouth of an insect or other arthropod, supposed to be organs of taste; † taste-paper, in the (old) Greats examination at Oxford, the paper in which passages were set from the classical authors for critical and exegetical treatment; taste-test v. trans., to test (something) by tasting it, to test the taste of (something); also absol.; so taste-tested a.; taste-tester.
1901E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. I. iv. 64 Each papilla carries a number of *taste-beakers, clusters of taste⁓cells and supporting cells, which constitute the specific end-organs of taste.
1934Jrnl. Heredity XXV. 189/2 There is less likelihood of finding a group entirely *taste blind. 1975Nature 6 Feb. 442/1 The designation ‘tasters’ for the more sensitive individual and ‘non-tasters’ or ‘taste blind’ for the less sensitive.
1934Jrnl. Heredity XXV. 190/1 *Taste blindness is an inherited inability to taste certain thiocarbamides as crystals or in cold diluted solutions as bitter. 1965M. A. Amerine et al. Princ. Sensory Evaluation Food ii. 112 Based on studies of families and twins, ‘taste blindness’ was first reported to be a simple recessive character.
1879J. Fulton Text Bk. Physiol. (ed. 2) xiv. 365 Peculiar structures, known as *taste buds, or taste goblets, have been discovered in the circumvallate papillæ. 1951V. Nabokov Speak, Memory ii. 30 It is..to the lowly and ugly agarics, that nations with timorous taste-buds limit their knowledge and appetite. 1963Listener 3 Jan. 40/1 Vested interests and pressure-groups work upon everything from our political opinions to our taste-buds. 1970T. S. & C. R. Leeson Histology (ed. 2) xiv. 274/2 A few taste buds are found also in the palate and epiglottis.
1883Science I. 232/2 The *taste-bulbs, numbering 700 or more, lying in the papillary wall of the valla. 1888J. G. M'Kendrick in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 79/2 The terminal organs of taste consist of peculiar bodies named taste-bulbs or taste-goblets.
1890Billings Nat. Med. Dict. s.v. Taste, *Taste-cells, spindle-shaped or staff-shaped cells in the interior of the taste-bulbs.
1891Cent. Dict., *Taste-center, the gustatory nervous center, located by Ferrier in the gyrus uncinatus of the brain.
1898Packard Text-bk. Entomol. 45 The structure and armature of the epipharyngeal surface even besides the *taste-pits, *taste-cups, and rods, is very varied.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 793 Whether the *taste-fibres pass by the second or third divisions of the nerve.
1879*Taste-goblet [see taste-bud].
1905Jrnl. R. Micros. Soc. Apr. 180 *Taste-hairs, homologous with Kræpelin's taste-hairs in Muscidæ, are found in various orders of insects.
1952D. Riesman Individualism Reconsidered (1954) 207 The problem..of becoming a possible *taste-leader.
1961New Left Rev. Jan.–Feb. 34/2 These areas of work are excluded, by the *tastemakers, from the concept of ‘serious’ art. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 725/2 Federigo's artistic patronage did prove a tastemaker, though of a limited kind.
1814Coleridge in Cottle Remin. (1837) II. 211 This *taste⁓meter to the fashionable world, gives a ludicrous portrait of an African belle.
1927Haldane & Huxley Animal Biol. i. 25 A number of very small *taste-organs are scattered over certain parts of the tongue [of the frog]. 1970G. Ordish tr. Chauvin's World of Ants vii. 175 The taste organ is situated in the antennae.
1860Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxiv, In the *taste paper.., as they compare notes, he seems to have almost struck the bull's eye in his answers. 1898*Taste-pit [see taste-cup].
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1622) 8 A place cunningly set with trees of the most *tast-pleasing fruits.
1979Wichita (Kansas) Eagle 23 May 1-b/4 If you've never cooked with fresh ginger..*taste-test before adding more. 1980D. Williams Murder for Treasure xx. 198 He found himself staring into the eyes of a gargantuan dog whose giant tongue was taste-testing his chin.
1960Time (Atlantic ed.) 11 Apr. 58 Critically *taste-tested piles of free cigarettes.
1969Listener 24 July 127/3 Game would be virtually tasteless if *taste-testers succeeded in eliminating all its off-flavours.
▪ II. taste, n.2 U.S. local.|teɪst|
[Origin unascertained.]
A kind of narrow thin silk ribbon used for edge-binding: now commonly called taffeta-binding. See also wire-taste.
1847in Webster. a1889F. A. P. Barnard in New Haven (Conn.) Palladium 18 Apr., If..Mrs. S. has any taste she will oblige me by sending me half a yard, no matter of what color, so it be not black.
▪ III. taste, v.|teɪst|
Forms: 3–5 tasten, (3 tasti, 4 tasty, taaste, 4–6 taast, 4–8 tast, 4–7 taist, 6 Sc. test, 7 teast), 4– taste.
[ME. tasten, a. OF. tast-er to touch, feel (12th c.), in 13–14th c. also to taste, mod.F. tâter to feel, touch, try, taste, = Pr., OSp. tastar, It. tastare to feel, handle, touch, grope for, try (Florio):—Com. Romanic or late pop.L. *tastare, app. from *taxtāre:—*taxitāre, freq. of taxāre to touch, feel, handle (Gellius, etc.): see tax v.]
I. Of touch, feeling, or experience generally.
†1. trans. To try, examine, or explore by touch; to feel; to handle. Obs.
c1290St. Michael 312 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 308 With þat finguer he wole hit tasti ȝif it is a-riȝt i-wrouȝt. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9011 He tasted his pous,..He seide he knew his medycyn. c1330Amis & Amil. 1401 Leches..That gun to tasty his wounde. 1390Gower Conf. III. 315 This noble clerk, with alle haste Began the veines forto taste. 1480Caxton Ovid's Met. x. vii, She toke hardynes for the derknes, and tasted the waye on the ryght side & lyft. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxxviii. 115 The men of armes entre into the dykes,..and tasted the dyke with their speares, and passed ouer to the fote of the wall. 1648Crashaw Delights Muses, Music's Duel 112 With a quiv'ring coynesse tasts the strings.
†b. intr. To feel, touch; to grope. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 147 Þe fyngres..Bitokneth sothly þe sone..Þat toched and tasted atte techynge of þe paume. c1450Merlin xxxiii. 681 She be-gan to taste softly till he fill on slepe. 1481Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 27 Isegrym..crope a lityl in, and tasted here and there, and at laste he sayde..what I seche I fynde not. 1483― G. de la Tour F ij b, He tasted aboute & founde well that the dede was trewe.
†c. trans. To come into contact with, to touch.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 18 Such as haue the Scuruy..so soone as they taste the shore..eat three-leafed-grasse.
†2. trans. To put to the proof; to try, test. Obs.
13..Cursor M. 12934 (Gött.) Þe warlou wili..wold him tast wid sin, To witt if he had part him in. c1450Lovelich Grail lii. 603 He lyht Adown..and tasted his harneis In that stede, þat it scholde not faille whanne he hadd nede. 1585–6Sir T. Sherley in Leycester Corr. (Camden) 174, I thowght to tast her affectyon unto your lordship. 1615Chapman Odyss. xxi. 211 And he now began To taste the bow. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. v. 206 Him he first tasted by Lafin, the same who had made himself a Mediator betwixt the Duke of Espernon and l'Esdiguieres in Provence.
b. spec.: see quots.
1711W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 164 Tasting of Plank or Timber, chipping of it with an Addice to try the Defects. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 155 Tasting of plank or timber, chipping it with an adze, or boring it with a small augur, for the purpose of ascertaining its quality.
†c. To attempt, try to do something. Obs. rare.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13834 On many manere ilk oþer tasted Ilk oþer to slo, ilk oþer to wounde. c1450Merlin xxxii. 649 He caste a-wey his clubbe and tasted to chacche the kynge in his armes.
3. fig. To have experience or knowledge of; to experience, feel; to have a slight experience of.
Often (in later use perh. always) fig. from 4.
a1300Cursor M. 18940 Als gaf to þaim þe haligast Alkin wiit to tuche and tast. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 126 He shal not taaste þe longe deþ. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 35 In ciuil commotions all thinges are miserable:..this our present age also hath oftentimes tasted. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 138 [The Gaules] who from Caesars time till then, had not tasted the force of a forren power. 1693Humours Town A ij b, You have tasted the Pleasures of the Town. 1717Ockley in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 353, I enjoy more repose here than I have tasted these many years. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iv. 207 John Knox, who was just returned from tasting the tender mercies of France as a galley-slave.
†b. To have carnal knowledge of. Obs.
1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iv. 57 If you can mak't apparant That you have tasted her in Bed; my hand, And Ring is yours. a1639T. Carew Poems (1651) 32 So shalt thou be despis'd, fair Maid, When by the sated lover tasted. 1752Young Brothers iv. i, What, see, talk, touch, nay taste her!
II. Of the special sense that resides in the tongue and palate.
4. trans. To perceive by the sense of taste; to perceive or experience the taste or flavour of.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 952 In menskinge of mouþ mirþe we hauen, In tendere touchinge of þing, & tastinge of swete. c1375Cursor M. 23456 (Fairf.) In þis werlde has men liking..squete spiceri to tast [Cott. fell] & smelle. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 14 Wellys most holsom of savour, For to be tasted of every governour. c1440Promp. Parv. 487/1 Taastyn, gusto. 1535Coverdale 2 Sam. xix. 35 This daye am I foure score yeare olde. How shulde I..taist what I eate or drynke? 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 30 When it did tast the Worme-wood. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 242 When once it has tasted human flesh, it never desists from haunting those places where it expects the return of its prey. 1909Daily Chron. 17 Nov. 8/4 She said the smells were so bad that they could be tasted as well as smelt.
†b. fig. To perceive or recognize as by the sense of taste. Obs.
1583Babington Commandm. i. 10 Euen a world it is to see how all, as dead, doo tast no sinne in it. 1591Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ⁋viij b, Three syllabled wordes..which who mislike, may tast lamp oyle with their eares. 1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass i. vi, Nay, then I taste a Trick in 't.
c. absol. or intr. To experience or distinguish flavours; to have or exercise the sense of taste.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 181 Þey..mowe noþer see ne hire, ne taste, ne smelle. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxi. 18 No wit salbe degest, To heir, se, smell, nor test. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 98 O, you are sicke of selfe-loue, Maluolio, and taste with a distemper'd appetite. Mod. I have got a very bad cold, and can neither taste nor smell.
5. transf. (trans.) To perceive by some other sense, esp. smell. Now only poet. or dial.
1656Earl of Monmouth Advt. fr. Parnass. 380 Would you have men taste the odoriferousness of those Aromaticks which you..have brought from the Indies? 1674Ray N.C. Words, To Tast; i.e. to smell in the North. 1796Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.), Taste, to smell, in the North. See Ray. You commonly ask a person to taste your snuff. 1819Keats Isabella ix, I must taste the blossoms that unfold In its ripe warmth this gracious morning time. 1844Kinglake Eöthen ii. (1878) 25 To taste the cold breath of the earliest morn.
6. To try the flavour or quality of by the sense of taste; to put a small quantity of (something) into the mouth in order to ascertain the flavour, etc.; spec. to test the quality of by tasting, for trade purposes. Also absol.
a1300Cursor M. 13403 (Cott.) Þai fild a cupp þan son in hast, And gaf it þe architricline to tast. Ibid. 16773 (Gött.) Þat bitter drinc..He tasted it, bot noght he dranc. 1388Wyclif Rom. xi. 16 If a litil part of that that is tastid be hooli, the hool gobet is hooli. 1535Coverdale Job xxxiv. 3 For like as the mouth tasteth [1382 Wyclif bi tast demeth] the meates, so the eare proueth & discerneth the wordes. 1552Huloet, Taste afore or fyrste, prolibo. 1604in Eng. Gilds (1870) 435 The ale teaster to teast the ale before they sell it. 1769Cook Voy. round World i. iii. (1773) 44 Having tasted the liquor, they returned it, with strong expressions of disgust. 1837Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades (1842) 441 This system of tasting constitutes the acme of the great Teaman's trade.
b. intr. with of: see 12 a.
c. spec. (trans.) To test or certify the wholesomeness of (food provided) by tasting it; also absol. to act as taster to a person. Also fig.
1595Shakes. John v. vi. 28 How did he take it [poison]? Who did taste to him? 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 32 He [the emperor] is tasted vnto, not before, but after he hath eaten and drunke. 1678Dryden All for Love i. i. 15 Thou and I, Like Time and Death, marching before our Troops, May taste fate to e'm; Mowe e'm out a passage. 1682Southerne Loyal Brother i. i, True, I make bold To taste their letters to 'em, as they pass Through my Employment.
d. fig. To make trial of as by the sense of taste; to try the quality of. Also with obj. clause, and absol. or intr. Cf. sense 2.
1382Wyclif Ps. xxxiii. 9 [xxxiv. 8] Tastith, and seeth, for sweete is the Lord. 1390Gower Conf. II. 395 Mi fader, nay; bot I have tasted In many a place as I have go, And yit love I nevere on of tho. 1597Morley Introd. Musicke Annot., Who hath tasted the firste elements of musicke. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii, Then come home, And taste a piece of Terence. 1819Keats Isabella xlix, O turn thee to the very tale, And taste the music of that vision pale. 1896Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 294 She waited breathlessly to taste the quality of her mercy.
7. To have or take a taste of (food or drink); to take only as much as is sufficient to try or perceive the taste of, to eat or drink a little; but often by meiosis, simply for ‘eat’ or ‘drink’. Negatively, not to taste = not even to taste, not to eat or drink at all. Also fig. to get a ‘taste’ of.
a1300Cursor M. 12559 (Cott.) Noþer durst þai drinc ne ete, Ne brek þair brede, ne tast þair mes Til he war cummen til þair des. 1382Wyclif Luke xiv. 24, I seie to ȝou, for noone of tho men that ben clepid, schal taaste my souper. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 69 Of mony things we sal taist a few as we may. 1624Quarles Job xi. Medit. 35 Wisdom digests, what knowledge did but tast. 1653Walton Angler i. 2, I often..taste a cup of Ale there. 1700J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo I. 31 It will suffice therefore for a Prince to tast the Arts and Sciences. 1754Gray Pleasure 60 She eyes the clear crystalline well [of Pleasure], And tastes it as it goes. 1853Kingsley Hypatia x, He had tasted no food since noon the day before.
b. absol. or intr. ellipt. for ‘taste wine or alcoholic drink’; to take a little drink. Sc.
1823Galt R. Gilhaize v. (E.D.D.), He pressed my grandfather to taste. 1901S. Macnaughton Fortune of Chr. M‘Nab ii, ‘Thank you’, said Christina, ‘I do not taste’. Mod. Sc. Will you not taste? Do you never taste?
8. To like the taste of (usually fig.); to relish, approve of, enjoy, like, take pleasure in; in earlier use sometimes in neutral sense: to appreciate. Now arch. or dial.
1605Earl of Salisbury in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 81 This [proposal] was at first but little tasted by them. a1617Bayne On Eph. i. (1634) 244 Many..taste their pottage, like Esau, better than their birthright. 1624Bedell Lett. iv. 81 A more sensible proofe how the Pope tastes these Titles. 1751Chatham Lett. Nephew ii. 6, I hope you love and taste those authors [Homer and Vergil] particularly. 1768Earl Hardwicke Let. 17 May, The king seemed to taste the Duke of Grafton, and commended his parts. 1791Boswell Johnson 2 Apr. an. 1775, If I wondered at Johnson not tasting the works of Mason and Gray, still more have I wondered at their not tasting his works. 1805Mrs. R. Trench in Rem. (1862) 170 Mad. de Sévigné, whom for the first time I really taste and admire. 1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such i. 10 The work..I am told is much tasted in a Cherokee translation. 1896‘Ian Maclaren’ Kate Carnegie 33 The story was much tasted by our guard's admirers.
9. intr. Of a substance: To have a taste of a specified or implied kind; to produce a certain taste in the mouth; to have a taste or flavour of.
1552Huloet, Tastyng or castynge an yll taste or sauoure, virosus. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 66 Blacke as soote and tasting not much unlike it. 1653Walton Angler iii. 73 It looks well, and tastes well. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. i. ii. §11 This new Wine, put into old Vessels, did in after-Ages taste of the Caske. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xxxix. §1 (1689) 253 It will make him to tast very sour. 1729Swift Direct. Servants, Cook ⁋26 If your butter tastes of brass, it is your master's fault. 1871Calverley Proverb. Philos. in Verses & Transl. (ed. 4) 95 Let him drink deeply.., nor grumble if it tasteth of the cork. Mod. The milk has begun to turn; it tastes rather sour.
b. fig. To produce a particular effect upon the mind or feelings; to partake of the nature, character, or quality of; to savour of.
1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 5 All other artes (whiche taste of the Mathematicalles). c1575J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew (1857) 19 His behaviour tasting after the French manner. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 89 How tasts it? Is it bitter? 1621Sanderson Serm. I. 179 This ungodly king Ahab; see how all that come of him, taste of him. 1840Clough Dipsychus Poems (1892) 109 The place, the air Tastes of the nearer north.
†c. trans. To savour of. Sc. Obs.
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. x. 417 Ony thing..of him said that taisted not Ill talk, haitred, and Invie.
†10. To cause a pleasant taste in (the mouth); to affect (the palate) agreeably; hence fig. to please, suit, be agreeable to. (Orig. intr. with dative obj.; in quot. 1672 with to.) Obs.
a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1622) 352 Bitter griefs tastes mee best, pain is my ease. 1624Heywood Gunaik. viii. 383 When wholesome foode would not tast their mouths, they devised sweet meates to realish their pallats. 1631― Maid of West iii. Wks. 1874 II. 299 Call for what wine best tasts you. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 184 Nothing less will taste to your palate.
11. To impart a taste or flavour to; to flavour; also fig. Now rare.
a1577Gascoigne Flowers Wks. (1587) 40 A salad or a sauce, to tast your cates withall. 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. iv, We will have a bunch of radish and salt to taste our wine. 1904J. Wells J. H. Wilson xxi. 293 All his teachings were coloured and tasted by the channel through which they ran.
12. taste of, a construction used in several senses, sometimes simply = taste, sometimes = take a taste of, eat or drink a little of. So taste on (now dial.), † taste to (obs.).
In some cases, as in quots. 1526 in b and c, perhaps a literalism of translation (not found in the Vulgate, Wyclif, or Rhemish N.T.); but see of 29 a, and cf. take a taste of.
a. To make trial of by tasting, to try the taste of; = 6. Also fig. arch.
a1400–50Alexander 2074 Þan pullis him vp þe proude kyng & on þe pepire tastis. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 11 The bee goth and tasteth of many fair floures. c1550Cheke Matt. xxvii. 34 When he had taasted on it [Tindale therof], he wold not drink. 1604–63Inscr. on Ch. Bells in North Ch. Bells Linc. (1882), I sweetly toling men do call to taste on meats that feeds the soule. 1807Southey Espriella's Lett. II. 196 We tasted of this bread: it was dry, but not unpleasant. 1848J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 154, I taste of every thing, I depend on nothing.
b. To eat or drink only a little of; with negative, not to eat or drink at all; = 7. Also fig.
13..K. Alis. 5070 (Bodl. MS.) The kyng..forbed..Þat non ne shulde..Of þe water drynk ne taste. c1400Destr. Troy 6427 The tydis not to taste of þis triet meite. 1526Tindale Luke xiv. 24 None of those men which were bidden shall tast of my supper [µου τοῦ δείπνου]. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 79, I craue..that we may Taste of your Wine. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 19 Asses are subject to madness when they have tasted to certain herbs growing neer Potnias. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 651 Of this Tree we may not taste nor touch. 1699Dryden Epist. to J. Dryden 61 For age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours. 1765T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. I. ii. 232 They had but tasted of the words..of the gentlemen.
c. To have experience or knowledge of; to feel, experience; = 3.
1526Tindale Matt. xvi. 28 Some there be a monge them that here stonde, whych shall nott taste of deeth [οὐ µὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου], tyll they shall [etc.]. 1552Latimer Serm. 4th Sund. Epiph. (1584) 315 b, He himself hath tasted of al trouble. a1562G. Cavendish Metr. Vis., Earl of Essex vi, I ame tastyng on the payn. 1599Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. ii, So contentedly, You cannot think unless you tasted on't. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 476 Hope here to taste Of pleasure. 1742Gray Adversity 6 The Proud are taught to taste of pain. 1832H. Martineau Ireland v. 75 Wherever the population had tasted of oppression.
†d. = 3 b. Obs.
1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii, I do embrace this season for the fittest To tast of that yong Lady.
e. See 9, 9 b. |