| 释义 |
ˈtea-leaf
1. The leaf of the tea-plant; esp. in pl. the leaves after being infused to make the beverage. Also with reference to fortune-telling. Cf. tea-cup a (b).
1756Hanway Ess. Tea vi. 237 You have also heard that your maids dry your tea-leaves, and sell them. 1798Monthly Mag. July 30/1 Texeira, a Spaniard who visited the East Indies about the year 1600, saw the dried tea-leaves first in Malacca. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 133/1 An extensive trade..is carried on in tea-leaves..after their having been subjected, in the usual way, to decoction. Ibid. 133/2 The tea-leaves are often reserved..to be thrown on the carpets when swept, as a means of allaying the dust. c1865Circ. Sc. I. 351/2 The tea-leaves have..to be infused with boiling-water. 1883C. S. Burne Shropshire Folk-Lore xxi. 277 A stalk or long tea-leaf floating in the tea was called a ‘chap’..was at once taken out and laid on the back of one hand, which was then struck sharply with the palm of the other, in order to see whether the ‘chap’ would come to the back door or the front. 1931E. Sackville-West Simpson i. 66 Tea-leaves, thought Amy, tell fortunes. 1941[see riddle v.1 2 c]. 1981Times 21 Jan. 11/4 They..read marriage prospects in the tea leaves.
2. Rhyming slang for ‘thief’. So ˈtea-leafing, thieving.
1899C. Rook Hooligan Nights ii. 23 He could do more than his share at tea-leafing, which denotes the picking up of unconsidered trifles. 1903C. Booth Life & Labour of People in London XVII. ii. 139 ‘Tea-leaf’ is for some inexplicable reason the name used by the police for pick⁓pockets. 1930A. Bennett Imperial Palace v. 20 The badinage..was more picturesque... ‘You dirty old tea-leaf.’ 1963J. Prescot Case for Hearing ii. 36 Proper tea-leaves they looked, the pair of 'em. 1977D. Clark Gimmel Flask iv. 63 A tea-leaf wouldn't find the key on your person if he broke in.
So tea-leaved |ˈtiːliːvd| a., having leaves like those of the tea-plant: specifically applied to a species of willow (Salix phylicifolia).
1806J. Galpine Brit. Bot. §409. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 106. |