释义 |
▪ I. reaching, vbl. n.1|ˈriːtʃɪŋ| [f. as prec.] 1. a. The action of reach v.1, in its various senses. Also with out, up.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. John Intr. 7/3 Mið ræcing [L. porrectione]. Ibid. 8/11 Mið racing honda [L. extensione manuum]. c1440Promp. Parv. 425/2 Rechynge, or stretchynge, extensio. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Alcance, ouertaking, obteining, pursuing, reaching. 1662Betty Verney 19 Apr. in Mem. Verney Fam. (1899) IV. 21 The reaching up of my armes. 1760Law Spir. Prayer i. 55 A natural..reaching after that eternal light. 1875Whitney Life Lang. viii. 138 The reaching-out of the bodily organs. 1884Sat. Rev. 14 June 783/2 According to all accepted tenets, mere running and reaching [in yacht-racing] is poor work. b. With a and pl. An instance of this.
1785Burke Sp. Nabob Arcot Wks. 1842 I. 333 All the reachings and graspings of a vivacious mind. 1846Ruskin Mod. Paint. (1883) ii. i. i, Reachings forward unto the things that are before. 1871Spencer Princ. Psych. II. §300. 82 All reasoning..is a reaching of the unknown through the known. †2. A reach or stretch of country. Obs.—1
1727in M. A. Richardson Hist. Table-bk. Leg. Div. (1843) I. 401 There are many hills and reachings for many miles. 3. Comb. (in sense 15 c of the vb.) reaching foresail, reaching jib, reaching sail, reaching staysail; reaching-post (see quot.).
1948R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. (ed. 2) 581/2 Reaching foresail, a triangular sail which sets on the forestay... Also called Genoa foresail, Genoa jib.
1924G. H. P. Muhlhauser Cruise of Amaryllis vii. 273 There is now rather more wind and we are carrying reaching jib and staysail.
1815Burney Falconer's Mar. Dict., Reaching-Post, in rope-making, a post..fixed in the ground at the lower-end of a rope-walk. It is used in stretching the yarn by means of a tackle.
1962D. F. Southern in A. Garrett Roving Commissions 11 It was sunny, warm and most pleasant running under our large reaching sail.
1924G. H. P. Muhlhauser Cruise of Amaryllis vii. 273 At sunset I changed to the working jib but left the reaching staysail. ▪ II. ˈreaching, vbl. n.2 Now dial. [f. reach v.2] The action of retching † or (in OE.) spitting. Also pl. (freq. in 18th c.).
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 174 Þis sint tacn adlies maᵹan; ærest ᵹelome spætunga oððe hræcunga. 1601Holland Pliny xxiv. iv, The said barke..is greatly commended for the reaching and spitting of blood. 1655Culpepper Riverius i. vi. 24 Coughing, Yawning, Reaching, and Hiccoughs. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1858) 481 First hungry, then sick again, with reachings to vomit. 1777G. Forster Voy. round World II. 238 They groaned most pitifully, had violent reachings. 1791J. Woodforde Diary 7 June (1927) III. 275 She was..very much swelled in the face by reaching and very weak. ▪ III. reaching, ppl. a.|ˈriːtʃɪŋ| [f. reach v.1 + -ing2.] That reaches, in senses of the vb. 1. Of the hand, etc.: Stretching out to or after something; able to reach far.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 86 Great men haue reaching hands. 1681T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 31 (1713) I. 200 A sad Experiment I have made Of the long reaching Arm of Kings. 1817Keats Sleep & Poetry 362 Fauns and satyrs taking aim At swelling apples with a frisky leap And reaching fingers. b. Characterized by reaching forward (with the legs. Cf. reach n. 5).
1866Blackmore Cradock Nowell xxv, She broke from the long stride of her trot into a reaching canter. 2. Having great (mental) reach; far- or deep-reaching. (Freq. in 17th c. Now rare.) a. of thoughts, views, plans, etc.
c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 106 It ys nedfull..[to] chese a sotell man, þat hauyn most stalworth tokenyng, and most rechand argument. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta i. ii. 229 A reaching thought will search his deepest wits. 1674Boyle Excell. Theol. ii. v. 207 To have so reaching and attentive a prospect of all things. a1718Penn Maxims Wks. 1726 I. 840 St. James gives a short Draught of the Matter, but very full and reaching. 1836Browning Life of Strafford (1891) 140 The views of the lord deputy, somewhat more reaching than their own, startled them. b. of the mind, etc.; rarely of persons.
1582Stanyhurst æneis Ep. Ded. (Arb.) 3 Such reaching wyts, as bend theyre endewours too thee vnfolding thereof. 1594Willobie Avisa 2 Then Pallas gaue a reaching head, With deepe conceites, and passing wit. 1664Power Exp. Philos. iii. 161 The reaching soul of the renowned DesCartes. 1845Bp. Wilberforce Let. 27 May in A. R. Ashwell Life (1879) I. vii. 269 A very clever reaching mother. 3. Stretching; capable of stretching. rare—1.
1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. viii. (1739) 46 They saw that in such cases of Treason the King's honour was made of reaching Leather. †4. ? Attractive, ‘fetching’. Obs.—1
1607Beaumont Woman Hater v. i, My Book-strings are sutable, and of a reaching colour. Hence ˈreachingly adv.
1664H. More Exp. 7 Epist. iii. 31 Very reachingly and comprehensively Propheticall. |