| 释义 |
▪ I. tent, n.1|tɛnt|
Forms: 3–6 tente, (5 teinte, teynte, 5–6 tentt(e, 6 tenthe), 4– tent.
[a. OF. tente (12th c. in Godef. Compl.):—L. tenta, pl. of tentum, pa. pple. of tendĕre to stretch; = med.L. tenta, tentum tent (in Du Cange); cf. also It., Pr. tenda, Sp. tienda, med.L. tenda (13th c. in Du Cange), assimilated to tendĕre.]
1. a. A portable shelter or dwelling of canvas (formerly of skins or cloth), supported by means of a pole or poles, and usually extended and secured by ropes fastened to pegs which are driven into the ground; used by travellers, soldiers, nomads, and others; a pavilion; also, a similar shelter erected on a travelling boat or wagon.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4156 Hii come to barbesflet & piȝte þer bi syde Hor tentes & hor pauilons. a1300Cursor M. 7709 He sett his tentes in a dale. Ibid. 7714 Þai went, Vn-to þe kings aun tent. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 67 Þar loges & þare tentis vp þei gan bigge. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 125 Antecrist schal be slawe in his owne tent in þe mount Olyuete. c1400Destr. Troy 10190 The troiens..Takyn þere tenttes, turnyt hom vnder. c1450Merlin iii. 46 How he wolde come be nyght hym-self to his teynte. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings xii. 16 Get the to thy tentes [Wyclif, Turne aȝen into thi tabernaclis] O Israel [Geneva, 1611, To your tents, O Israel]. 1552Huloet, Tent or bouthe in a fayre or market. a1570in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 407 Comptroller of her graces Revelles tenthes & pavillions. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 7 Vp with my Tent, heere wil I lye to night, But where to morrow? 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 82 The weather grew so extreme, as it blew downe all our Tents, and tore them in pieces. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 17 May, The Sultan is already gone to his tents, and all his Court. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 285 Friday and I, in about two Hours Time, made a very handsome Tent, cover'd with old Sails. 1844Longfellow Day is done 43 The cares, that infest the day, Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. 1844[see pitch v.1 4].
†b. A sheet or screen of canvas or the like.
1572in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 179 Hanging up Tentes to keepe away the wynde & snow from dryving into the hall.
2. transf.
a. Something likened to or resembling a tent; spec.
b. in Photogr., a curtained box serving as a portable dark-room;
c. the silken web of a tent-caterpillar.
1599Davies Immort. Soul iv. xxi, Heav'ns wide-spreading Tent. 1862B. Taylor Poet's Jrnl. iii. Myst. Summer 52 Its little bell expands, for me, A tent of silver lily fair. 1923T. S. Eliot Waste Land iii. 14 The river's tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank. 1929Oxford Poetry 13 Here in this harbour where straw glows..and overhead The unbroken tent of heaven covers.
d. The name given to a local ‘lodge’ or ‘habitation’ of the Rechabites; also of the Zionists.[From the tents in which the ancient Rechabites dwelt, Jer. xxxv. 7, and those in which Israel dwelt in the wilderness.] 1886Rechabite Mag. July 151 (Cassell) The sick funds in the possession of the various tents. 1897E. Reich in 19th Cent. Aug. 261 At the head of religious Zionism are the numerous ‘Tents’ of the ‘Lovers of Zion’. Ibid. Oct. 633 The English Association, known as the Chovevi Zion..has 35 established ‘Tents’, spread through the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.
e. Applied to a hut.
a1873Deutsch Rem. (1874) 178 The people dwelling during their lifetime in tents of mud. 1887Hall Caine Deemster xxxvii. 247 A little disjointed gipsy encampment of mud-built tents pitched on the bare moor.
f. A plastic or fabric enclosure that can be placed round a patient in bed so that the air he or she breathes can be modified and controlled. Cf. oxygen tent s.v. oxygen 3 b.
1892J. Carmichael Dis. Children xvii. 235 The room should be well ventilated, and the temperature of the tent kept between 65° and 70°. 1941M. Davidson Pract. Man. Dis. Chest (ed. 2) xxxv. 559 Many varieties of tent have been constructed, all of which..demand considerable supervision. 1971S. M. Bates Pract. Pediatric Nursing xii. 237 Both tents are designed to achieve cool super⁓saturation of the contained air with minimal wetting. 1979Whaley & Wong Nursing Care Infants & Children xxxii. 1201/1 For continuous aerosol therapy a misting device is attached to or incorporated in the mist tent.
3. fig. An abode, residence, habitation, dwelling-place; esp. in phrases to have, pitch one's tent(s.
c1366Chaucer A.B.C. 9 Bountee so fix hath in þin herte his tente. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxxxiii[i]. 10 To dwell in the tentes of the vngodly [1611 tents of wickednesse]. 1624Davies Psalm xv, Lord! who shall dwell in thy bright tent with Thee? 1700Dryden Theodore & Hon. 59 To Chassis' pleasing plains he took his way, There pitched his tents, and there resolved to stay. 1827Edin. Weekly Jrnl. 28 Feb., They..spoke of the theatre as of the tents of sin. 1887Hall Caine Coleridge iv, Roscoe invited him to pitch his tent in Liverpool.
4. Sc. A portable pulpit set up in the open air for the preacher on sacramental or other occasions when the worshippers are too numerous to be accommodated in the church.
1678Lady Methven Let. in Ladies of Covt. (1853) Introd. 34 They had their tent set up upon your ground. 1689in Faithful Contendings (1780) 381 A tent being set up before, Mr. Shields continued in his lecture. 1785Burns Holy Fair xiv, But, hark! the tent has chang'd its voice. 1837Lockhart Scott May an. 1819, Every kirk in the neighbourhood being left empty when it was known he was to mount the tent at any country sacrament. 1885Edgar Old Ch. Life Scot. 177 Besides a church, every parish required a tent. This..was not a tabernacle of canvas for sheltering the worshippers, but a moveable pulpit made of wood for the preacher to stand in.
5. attrib. and Comb.
a. Simple attrib. ‘of, consisting of, belonging to, used in, dwelling in, a tent or tents’, as tent accommodation, tent-cloth, tent-curtain, tent-fashion, tent-fellow, tent-flap, tent-frame, tent-hand, tent-house (also fig.), tent-life, tent-mate, tent-picket, tent-pole, tent-post, tent-roof, tent-rope, tent-sail (sail n.1 7), tent-school, tent-skirt, tent-staff, tent-table, tent-talk, tent-tomb, tent-wagon; objective and obj. genitive, as tent-holder, tent-keeper, tent-owner, tent-pitcher, tent-pitching; instrumental, etc., as tent-clad, tent-dotted, tent-dwelling, tent-like adjs.; also, in sense 4, tent-meeting, tent-preacher, tent-preaching, tent-reader, tent-sermon.
1780W. Carter Disbanded Subaltern 22 Close at the bottom of this *tent-clad hill.
1552Huloet, *Tente clothes, wherwith tentes are couered. 1836Uncle Philip's Convers. Whale Fishery 13 The sinews..they use in sewing their coats and tent cloths.
1835N. P. Willis Pencillings by Way II. xviii. 199 Most of the officers lay asleep on low ottomans, with their *tent curtains undrawn. 1926T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) viii. xcvi. 532 He crawled back through the tent-curtain.
1648Owen Serm. Hab. iii. 1–9 Wks. 1851 VIII. 98 The *tent-dwelling Arabians.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xvi. 176 Their neat canvas housing rigged *tent-fashion.
1904Expositor Apr. 311 Men from all parts of Greece were *tent fellows and messmates.
1920Blackw. Mag. Sept. 319/2 He paused with his shaking hand on the *tent-flap. 1980D. Hart-Davis Heights of Rimring vii. 67 He unrolled the tent-flaps and let them hang down.
Ibid. vi. 65 The porters..began to fit *tent-frames together.
1938N. Streatfeild Circus is Coming v. 57 The man finished fixing a seat. ‘I'm a *tent hand.’ 1965H. Gold Man who was not with It xiv. 115 A couple of tenthands are taking their flannel shirts off a line.
1905Daily Chron. 22 Aug. 6/5 At a largely-attended meeting of *tent-holders at Southend..it was pointed out that, according to legal advice, the tent-owners were in the position of trespassers.
1625Balcarres Proclam. No. 1431 *Tent-keeper. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 164/1 Dayly pay..Pioners each 1s. Tent Keepers each 18d.
1858G. Rhodes (title) Tents and *Tent-Life, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time. 1864Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 114 Tent-life in the winter months is very enjoyable.
1840Longfellow Spanish Stud. iii. v, Behold, how beautiful she stands Under the *tent-like trees!
1695tr. Colbatch's New Lt. Chirurg. put out 48 Seeing some of his *Tent-mates, I asked them if he was distracted? 1972J. Minifie Homesteader xviii. 158, I used the Army-issue straight blade [razor] myself, to the intense admiration of my tent-mates.
1950Reader's Digest Jan. 85/2 Frakes joined the Methodist Church at an evangelistic *tent meeting.
1875T. Seaton Fret Cutting 77 Tell your *tent-pitcher to give me two long tent-pins and two short ones.
1913S. O'Casey Let. 7 June (1975) I. 28 There will be exhibitions of drill, *tent-pitching, [etc.]. 1925G. Bell Let. 28 Jan. (1927) II. xxv. 721 The ordinary Scout exercises and tent pitchings—which they did extremely well.
1706Lond. Gaz. No. 4189/4 Out of the Albion Frigat,..Pictures, *Tent Poles. 1864G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 14 Your hands have borne the tent-poles. 1974R. Adams Shardik xviii. 134 His ugly, unmarriageable tent-pole of a daughter. 1979Guardian 12 June 2/4 These..facts..were..‘the fixed and rigid tentpoles’ of the whole edifice of the prosecution case.
1855Milman Lat. Chr. V. 13 The Mamelukes..tied him to a *tent-post with his hands behind his back.
1966Punch 9 Mar. 362/2 A *tent-preacher and healer tells a diabetic woman she is cured. 1977Time 26 Dec. 41/1 The latter include everything from Episcopalians to nearly a million Roman Catholics, to oddball healers and assorted tent preachers.
c1795Stat. Acct. Scotland 1791–9 XV. 537 At the celebration of..the Sacrament of the Supper, there is no field or *tent preaching..so derogatory from the solemnity of this institution. 1825Jamieson s.v., Scottish Presbyterians..still feel some degree of partiality to tent-preaching.
a1722Pennecuik Wks. (1815) 345 (E.D.D.) He was *tent-reader of our service book.
1424Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 151 Pro ij wellrapis, ij *tente⁓rapis, et j veylrape cum j corda..5s. 1828–40Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 152 Douglas..penetrated to the royal tent, [and] cut the tent-ropes.
1892Rider Haggard Nada 2 The shivering natives..took refuge on the second waggon, drawing a *tent-sail over them.
1909Jrnl. Educ. Apr. 294/2 South Australia... A new plan for the education of children in remote parts of the State... The first *tent school has already been established and is to be found in the Hundred of Shannon, or Eyre Peninsula.
1805J. Ramsay Scot. & Scotsm. in 18th C. (1888) II. i. 25 *Tent-sermons were retained by general consent.
1896‘M. Field’ Attila iv. 106 At last they caught the *tent-skirt in their hands And entered one by one.
1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xxi. §11 (ed. 3) 369 The *tent-staff and pennon all or.
1932Auden Orators iii. 108 The *tent-talk pauses a little till a veteran answers ‘Go to sleep, Sonny!’
1819Acct. Colony Cape of Good Hope iii. 118 A light *tent waggon, drawn by six or eight horses, constitutes the carriage of the wine boor. 1893Month Apr. 523, I live in a tent-wagon.
b. Special Combs.: tent-barge, a barge having a tent-like canvas awning; tent-bottom, a board floor fitted to a tent; tent caterpillar, the gregarious larva of a North American moth of the genus Malacosoma of the family Lasiocampidæ, which spins a tent-like web; tent city, a very large collection of tents; tent club: in India, a club organized for the sport of pig-sticking; tent coat, a coat resembling a tent in shape, being narrow at the shoulders and very wide at the hem; tent-fly: see fly n.2 4 b; also, an exterior sheet stretched over the ridge-pole so as to cover the ordinary tent-roof with an air-space between; tent-man, (a) a tent-dweller; (b) one who has charge of a tent; tent-master: see quot. 1660; tent-pin = tent-peg; tent ring Canad., a ring of stones used to hold down a tent, teepee, etc.; tent-sack (see quot. 1940); tent show, a show (such as a circus) given in a tent; tent-stake U.S. = tent-peg; also in fig. phr. to pull up tent-stakes: to close down a business etc.; cf. stake n.1 1 e; tent town, a temporary settlement (as of gold-miners or the like); tent-trailer orig. and chiefly U.S., a kind of trailer consisting of a wheeled frame with a collapsible tent cover attached; tent-tree, a species of screw-pine: see quot.; tent village, a small encampment; spec. = douar, dowar. See also tent-bed, tent-door, etc.
1796Stedman Surinam II. xix. 71 A decent *tent-barge with six oars.
1902Fortn. Rev. June 988 The wooden *tent-bottoms are placed outside the tents and thoroughly scrubbed three times a week.
1854E. Emmons Agric. N.Y. V. 236 To eradicate completely the *tent caterpillar, it will be necessary to give attention to the wild cherry trees. 1884Roe Nat. Ser. Story iv, A colony of jays would soon destroy all the tent-caterpillars. 1901Board Agric. Leaflet No. 69. 1 Two species of so-called ‘Tent Caterpillars’ are frequently found on various fruit trees. 1977Richards & Davies Imms's Gen. Textbk. Entomol. (ed. 10) II. iii. 1135 The larvae of M. americana..are commonly known as ‘tent-caterpillars’, their webs measuring 2 feet or more in length.
1934M. F. K. Fisher in As they Were (1983) 64 A *tent city, many umbrella and hot-dog concessions. 1980J. Domatilla Last Crime 5 A tent city of tourists on a similar pilgrimage.
1889R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking or Hoghunting xvii. 152 Every station near which pig are to be found has its *Tent Club. This is an association of the sportsmen of the place for carrying out the preservation of the pig, and successful hunting. 1895Kipling in Cent. Mag. Dec. 271/1 He became a member of the local Tent Club, and chased the mighty boar on horseback. 1920Blackw. Mag. Jan. 105/1 A Tent Club corresponds to a Hunt; the Hon. Secretary to the Master.
1961Guardian 1 Feb. 7/5 A vast *tent coat..over an elegant little sheath dress. 1971Vogue 15 Sept. 51 Short tent coat with cape yoke.
1849T. T. Johnson Sights Gold Region 169 The *tent-fly is a second roof usually erected over the tent. 1897H. Porter in Cent. Mag. Apr. 831 A hospital tent-fly was stretched in front of the office tent so as to make a shaded space.
1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur 231 Drink, for this is the fear-naught of the *tentmen. 1945Sun (Baltimore) 22 Feb. 7/2 Circus men sentenced... Chief tentman, two to seven years in State prison. 1961Times 28 Mar. 12/6 The sweating ‘tentman’..will be clown, drummer, lion⁓tamer rolled into one. 1978Illustr. London News Nov. 32/3 As a kid..I used to take my waddie bottle..full of tea to the tentmen, they were travelling labourers, really.
1660Hexham, Een Tenten-meester, a *Tent-master, or a Marshall of a Campe. 1864Tent master [see tenter n.2 2]. 1938N. Streatfeild Circus is Coming v. 57 You'll have the tent master after me.
1763J. Bell Trav. from St. Petersburg I. 323 Our European tents are of little use, as there is no earth in which the *tent-pins can be fastened. 1807Wilkinson in Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) App. 24 We found..many tent-pins made of wood. 1875[see tent pitcher in a].
1945Beaver Mar. 39/2 When a tent is struck.., the ring of stones which held it down lies there for years to come, and these *tent rings are found today scattered even more widely..than the old igloos. 1958Even. Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 29 Apr. 13/3 My large tent needed more rocks to hold it down firmly than the usual tent ring supplied.
1940F. Smythe Adventures of Mountaineer vii. 89 There was little else we could do save..unpack our *tent-sack... It was simply a large sack of jaconet waterproof and windproof material intended to shelter climbers in an emergency. 1972D. Haston In High Places iv. 52 As we were sitting comfortably in our tent sacks there was suddenly a loud explosion and a great hissing all around.
1878M. Long Life Mason Long iv. 60, I made the acquaintance of a man named McCoole, who was travelling with a small *tent show. 1935[see shill n.]. 1973Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Dec. 1593/4 Her life of the tent show, the Black touring company, race labels and buffet flats.
1862Rebellion Record V. ii. 156 The desolated, hard-trodden ground, and a few *tent-stakes, remain to tell the story. 1923H. Crane Let. 15 Feb. (1965) 123 Broom..has busted; N.Y. office closed last Saturday; March issue, the last, to be distributed from Berlin while the tent-stakes are being pulled up. 1956H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) i. 7 The Popcorn Man was throwing canvas over his machine and had it almost covered when a rube heaved a tent-stake.
1878J. H. Beadle Western Wilds 103 Along the track west of it had sprung up five *tent-towns. 1923H. Steele Spirit of Iron 108 He came in touch with all the vice, wretchedness and stark tragedy abounding in the tent-towns and construction camps. 1965Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 May 3/2 Near this town..there is a tent-town of marginal people and transients.
1963Better Camping Mar.–Apr. 32/2 It is only in the last six years or so that the *tent trailer has grown from modest beginnings—little more than a bed on a trailer and just canvas cover enough to turn around in—to fold-out apartment-size dwellings. 1970Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 9 Midway between tent and caravan..come the tent-trailers.
1884Miller Plant-n., *Tent-tree, of Lord Howe's Island, Pandanus Forsteri.
1899A. E. W. Mason Miranda of Balcony x. 139 The Arab..belonged to a douar, a *tent village. 1977N.Z. Herald 8 Jan. 1–3/6 They also called for reinforcements for their tent village.
Hence ˈtentful, as many as fill a tent; ˈtentwards adv., towards a tent; ˈtentwise adv.1, in the manner or shape of a tent.
1897Daily News 24 May 6/5 The whole *tentful of people rose and the gentlemen reverently uncovered.
1893Westm. Gaz. 7 Oct. 2/1 Four weird figures tramping *tentwards after a long day abroad.
1530Tindale Exodus Table Expound. Words, Tabernacle, an house made *tentwise, or as a pauelion. 1846Mrs. Gore Sk. Eng. Char. (1852) 39 A genteel youth..whose straight, yellow hair is combed up, tent-wise, on the top of his head.
Add:[2.] g. Trinidad. Orig., a rudimentary structure erected at carnival time in which calypsos were performed; hence, any place used as a venue for calypso performances.
1903in E. Hill Trinidad Carnival (1972) vii. 64/1 Rival bands met in streets or in one another's tent, not to test superiority by blows but to engage in friendly competition in song. 1934[see calypso n.]. 1955I. McDonald in Ramchand & Gray West Indian Poetry (1972) 19 He was not famous in the tents: he went there once, and not a stone clapped, and he was afraid of respectable eyes. 1969J. D. Elder From Congo Drum to Steelband ii. 15/2 Calypsonians are withdrawn from the streets and become performers within the tent organisation. 1972E. Hill Trinidad Carnival vii. 65/1 The man responsible for turning the calypso tent into respectable entertainment business was, by his own account, Chieftain Walter Douglas. 1980Trinidad Guardian 2 Jan. 7/1 The tent is to be in operation on Thursday nights. 1982K. Warner Kaiso! Trinidad Calypso 12 A variety of halls, cinemas and other accessible buildings have served as calypso tents.
[5.] [b.] tent dress, a tent-shaped dress (see tent coat above), often worn as a maternity garment.
1957M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 347/2 *Tent dress, type of maternity garment. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 202/1 Short tent dress of woven checked cotton buttons at the shoulder and down one side. 1983‘D. Shannon’ Exploit of Death (1984) iii. 57 They found the place, a single frame house with peeling paint. A shapeless woman in a wrinkled tent dress opened the door.
▪ II. tent, n.2 Now Sc. and north. dial.|tɛnt|
Also 4–5 tente, (5 teynt).
[Aphetic for attent and entent, intent: cf. tend v.1, of which tent is practically a deriv., as attent of attend, intent of intend.]
1. Attention, heed, care; nearly always in the phrases † give tent, to give heed, pay attention (obs.), and take tent, to take heed, take care; with to, to pay attention to, take heed to; = attent n. 1, 2, intent n. 2.
a1300Cursor M. 661 Lok for-þi, þat ȝee tak tent Þat ȝee ne brek mi commament. Ibid. 19464 A child hight saulus..Tok tent to-quils to þair wede. Ibid. 19514 Þar þe folk wit full assent Til his wordes gaf þair tent. c1325Song of Mercy 8 in E.E.P. (1862) 118 Of whuche, to on i toke goode tent. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7025 Þe kyng til hym gaf no tent. 1382Wyclif Ps. lxxvii. 1 Taketh tente, my puple, to my lawe. ― 1 Tim. iv. 1 In the laste tymes summen schulen departe fro the feith, ȝyuynge tent to spiritis of errour. 1388― Ps. xxxix. [xl.] 1 He ȝaf tent to me. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 4333 To theire schippis hadde thei no teynt. 1533Gau Richt Vay (S.T.S.) 65 Tak tent that thow sine na mair. a1637B. Jonson Underwoods, Eupheme i. viii, The high parliament Of Heaven; where Seraphim take tent Of ordering all. 1728Ramsay Last Sp. Miser xvii, I took good tent, That double pawns..Lay in my hands. 1816Scott Old Mort. xliii, ‘This is the way’, said the little girl; ‘follow me, gin ye please, sir, but tak tent to your feet’. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., Mind and tak tent on 'em.
†2. Intent, purpose; = intent n. 1, attent n. 3. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 14288 Bot mari was in a-noþer tent [v.r. entent] Wit hir lauerd to speke sco went. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 97 Trouthe haþe determyned þe tente to þe ende. 14..Beryn 126 For ethir-is þouȝt & tent was, othir to begile. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 18 Þe autours of his tente he tellys.
▪ III. tent, n.3 Surg.|tɛnt|
Also 4–7 tente, 6 teynte, 6–8 taint, 7 taynt.
[a. F. tente (12th c. in Godef. Compl.), n. f. tenter:—L. temptāre, tentāre; see tent v.2: cf. It. tenta, Sp. tienta a probe.]
†1. A probe. Also fig. Obs.
c1375Cursor M. 26638 (Fairf.) A tent þe wers to hit will reche Quen hit rotis for defaute of leche. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 16 Modest Doubt is cal'd..the tent that searches To' th' bottome of the worst. 1693tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2) s.v. Tenta, A Chyrurgeons Instrument, called Specillum, the vulgar call it Tenta, a Tent, from trying.
2. A roll or pledget, usually of soft absorbent material, often medicated, or sometimes of a medicinal substance, formerly much used to search and cleanse a wound, or to keep open or distend a wound, sore, or natural orifice.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 34, I heeld þe wounde open aldai wiþ a litil smal tent & a schort. c1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 34, I putte in tuo tentes or þre..in þe larger holes. 1547Boorde Brev. Health Pref. 4 Let them be sure in serchynge of the depnes of woundes and fystules, and accordyng to the depnes to make the tentes. 1610Markham Masterp. ii. cxiii. 407 Hauing cleansed the soare by tying a taint of flaxe or fine linnen cloth. 1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 292 A linnen clowt rowled up in the fashion of a great taynt. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Tent[s] in surgery..are of service [1.] to convey medicines to the most inner recesses..of the wound. 2. To prevent the Lips of the wound from uniting before it is healed at the bottom... Tents whose office is to enlarge..the mouth of any wound, or ulcer..are usually called sponge-tents. 1867Harris Dict. Med. Terminol., Sponge Tent, a tent made of prepared sponge. 1872T. G. Thomas Dis. Women 78 Preparation of sea-tangle tents.
fig.a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 35 b, Now to finde a remedy for a mischief and a tent to stop a wounde, the Clergy..agreed to offre..a greate some of money. 1672T. Jordan Lond. Triumphant 15 But yet our wounds have neither tent nor balm, We freeze in Fire, drown in a Calm.
†3. transf. (from the shape or appearance.) Obs.
1578Lyte Dodoens vi. lvi. 730 After these tentes or catkens the leaues begin to showe.
†4. A paste which sets hard, used in setting precious stones: see quot. 1656. Obs.[This may be a different word.] 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 62 An excellent tent for a Diamond. Bvrne Iuorie in a crusible..into a blacke powder, then take a little..thereof, and mingle it with a few drops of..Oyle of Masticke, and in the setting of the stone you must haue care that it touch not the tent. 1647R. Stapylton Juvenal Ep. Ded., Just as a pigmey should throw away a diamond bigger then himself, only because the tent it stood upon was black. 1656Blount Glossogr. s.v., Jewellers call that Tent which they put under Table Diamonds when they set them in work, and is made of mastick and turpentine.
Hence tentwise adv.2, in the way of a surgical tent or plug.
1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 272 A salve..which must be applyed eyther plaister-wise or taint-wise.
▪ IV. tent, n.4|tɛnt|
Forms: 6 tynt, tente, teynt, 7 tint, 7– tent.
[ad. Sp. tinto dark-coloured:—L. tinctus, pa. pple. of tingĕre to dye: see tinct, tinge. Cf. Sp. ‘vino Tinto, a blackish wine in Spaine’ (Minsheu 1599).]
A Spanish wine of a deep red colour, and of low alcoholic content. Also tent wine. (Often used as a sacramental wine.)
1542Boorde Dyetary x. (1870) 255 Also these hote wynes, as..caprycke, tynt. 1580Frampton Dial. Yron & Steele 159 Casting wine called Tente vpon burning yron. 1612in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 335 Sackes Canareis Malagas Maderais..Teynts and Allacants. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. lv. 74 The Vinteners make Tent (which is a Name for all Wines in Spain except white) to supply the place of it. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. x. 246 Spanish wines, such as tent and sherry. 1881Med. Temp. Jrnl. XLVIII. 199 Tent..is the least objectionable of intoxicating wines.
▪ V. tent, n.5 ? Obs.
[f. tent v.3; or shortened from tenter n.1]
A frame on which embroidery or tapestry is kept stretched while making; a stretching frame for various purposes.
1548Elyot, Tendicula..a nette or snare to take byrdes or beastes in, also a teynter, and a tent that brotherers woorke on. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xxi. (Roxb.) 251/2 A long square of wood, made after the maner of an Embrautherers tent to slip up and down. a1704Compl. Servant-Maid (ed. 7) 62 To wash and starch Points. Take your Points and put them into a Tent, then lay your Tent upon a Table. 1741Lady Pomfret Lett. (1805) III. 113 The working of the tapestry, which is done in a different manner.., the tent being set edgewise.
▪ VI. † tent, a. Sc. Obs. rare.
[Aphetic f. attent or intent a.]
Attent, watchful; intent.
1789Davidson Seasons 77 Up cam Tam Tell an' Sutor Sam..As tent upo' the aftergame, As hounds loos'd frae a kennel. Ibid. 90 Up started Rosy Dougan, As tent as if she had been a puss.
▪ VII. tent, v.1 Now Sc. and north. dial.
[Closely related to, and app. formed from, tent n.2: perh. short for take tent; but cf. also tend v.1]
†1. intr. To give or pay attention, to ‘take tent’; to attend, give heed, take notice. Const. to, unto, till; = tend v.1 1, 2. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 16910 Armed knightes þar þai left Þat to þe tumb suld tent. Ibid. 19034 Þai..desseli bath late and are War tentand to þe apostels lare. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 91 Þe Kyng was in affray, he might not tent þerto. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 294 Þei tenten neiþer to bodi ne to soule. a1425Cursor M. 3619 (Trin.) His modir tent [Cott. & Gött. tok tent] to ysaac And herde þo wordis þat he spac. c1475Golagros & Gaw. 342, I rede ye tent treuly to my teching. 1530Palsgr. 754/2, I tente to my busynesse, I take hede to the thinges I have in hande. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxviii. 99 Tent to ȝoursellis.
†b. Const. to with inf. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 21167 Symon zelote..His lauerd al to serue he tent. 1357Lay Folks Catech. (MS. T.) 194 Noght than for to tent to tary with the world, Ne lyue in lykyng ne lust. c1410Love Bonavent. Mirr. xxxiii. (1908) 159 Onely tentinge to plese god.
c. trans. To give or pay mental attention to; to attend to, give heed to, take notice of (a person, his words, a matter); cf. tend v.1 1 b.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13630 Þey ne roughte where þey ȝede Ne nought rewarded how [v.r. no tentid not] þey were in drede. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 935 Þay token his as-tyt & tented hit lyttel. Ibid. C. 59 Wyl ȝe tary a lyttel tyme & tent me a whyle. c1400Destr. Troy 10237 He blamyt full bitturly þan his blithe qwene, Þat euer he tentit hir tale. 1724Ramsay Gentle Sheph., To Burchet viii, Yet, tent a poet's zealous prayer. 1785Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook ix, Ye're maybe come to stap my breath; But tent me, billie; I red ye weel, tak care o' skaith, See, there's a gully [= big knife]!
2. To attend to the safety and needs of, to take or have charge and care of; to look after, see to, mind, attend to, tend (a person, flock, plant, machine, etc.). Now dial. esp. Sc.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 676 Þis ilke wyȝ þat wendez with oure lorde, For to tent hym with tale & teche hym þe gate. c1430Syr Gener. 2832 Felows he had the toure to tent Which were redie at his comaundment. c1450Bk. Curtasye 430 in Babees Bk. 312 The lordys chambur, tho wadrop to, Þo vssher of chambur schalle tent þo two. 1557in Sharp Cov. Myst. (1825) 73 Payd for tyntyng the yerthe⁓quake, iiij d. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 120 After that [he] setteth a boy or girle to tente them. 1686G. Stuart Joco-Ser. Disc. 64 When Foxes preach tent weel your Geese. 1728Ramsay Tea-t. Misc., There's my Thumb iii, Tenting my flocks lest they should wander. 1789Burns Capt. Grose i, If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iv. 125 This ‘plucker’ is generally attended or ‘tented’, to use a factory phrase, by a boy. 1859Autobiog. Beggar Boy 51, I soon got engaged to tent a herd of oxen for the day.
3. To take (ocular) notice of, observe, watch. Sc.
1721Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 3 Tent how the Calidonians, lang supine, Begin, mair wise, to open baith their een. 1875W. Walsh Poet. & Pr. Wks. 1 When young you heedless tent the sky. 1888A. Reid Sangs Heatherland (1894) 86 Tent her when she hides her face.
4. To be careful, to beware (with clause). Sc.
1737Ramsay Scots Prov. xxxiv. §88 Tent wha ye take by the hand. 1789Sheph. Wedding (ed. 2) 15 (E.D.D.) Tent what you say!
5. To take care to prevent or hinder (a person) from doing something. north. dial.
1781Hutton Tour Caves (ed. 2) Gloss., Tent, to watch or guard from doing a thing. 1863Mrs. Toogood Yorks. Dial. s.v., He was going into toon but his father tented him. 1868Accrington Times 16 May (E.D.D.) Tent 'em fro' breyking aot o' th' ranks. 1874Sheffield Indep. (ibid.), He thinks to come here, but I'll tent him [i.e. take care that he does not].
6. To watch for and scare away (birds); also, to guard (corn, seed, etc.) from birds. north. dial.
1858Bailey Age 73 I'd give you the congenial occupation Of scaring crows, and ‘tenting’ vegetation. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss., Tent...to scare birds from corn. 1889Ibid. (ed. 2), Tent is used either of the things watched over, or the things guarded against. ‘Oor Bill's tentin' to'nup-seäd e' th' Beck⁓boddoms. When I was a lad I spent moäst o' my time tentin' craws an' stock-duvs.’
Hence ˈtented ppl. a., ˈtenting vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.; tenting-lad dial., a lad or boy employed to watch the crops and scare birds. Also combinations of the verb-stem, as tent-boy = tenting-lad.
c1645Tullie Siege of Carlisle (1840) 14 Daily skirmishes..aboute y⊇ fetching in of Cattell, or y⊇ tenting ym in their places of pastures. 1721Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 37 The tempting bait, and tented string, Beguile the cod, the sea-cat, tusk, and ling. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss., Tenter, Tenting-lad, a boy who scares birds from corn. 1888L. Wilson in J. Brown Lit. Laureat. (1890) 63 Here seated in his rustic grace, The ‘tent’ boy blew his horn.
▪ VIII. † tent, v.2 Obs.
[a. F. tent-er = Sp. tentar, It. tentare:—L. temptāre to tempt, in med.L. (after Romanic langs.) tentāre.]
A variant of tempt, occasional down to 16th c. Hence † tenting vbl. n.3
a1225Ancr. R. 228 Nu an oðer elne ouh muchel urouren ou, hwon ȝe beoð itented... God..is treowe: nul he neuer þolien þet te deouel tempti us ouer þet he isihð wel þet we muwen iðolien. Ibid. 230 Ure Louerd, hwon he iðoleð þet we beoð itented, he plaieð mid us. c1440York Myst. xxviii. 243 Euelle spiritis is neghand full nere, That will ȝou tarie at þis tyme with his tentyng. a1555Bp. Gardiner in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 738, I know your Grace only tenteth me with such reasones.
▪ IX. † tent, v.3 Obs.
Also 5 tente, teynt.
[Connected with L. tendĕre, tent-um, F. tendre to stretch; also with tent n.5, tenter n.1; but exact history not evidenced.]
Hence † tenting vbl. n.4
1. trans. To stretch (cloth) on tenters: = tenter v. 1.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 447 Cloth..is nouȝt comly to were Tyl it is fulled vnder fote..Ytouked, and ytented [v.r. y-teynted] & vnder tailloures hande. c1440Promp. Parv. 489/1 Tente clothe, extendo, lacinio. 1463–4Rolls of Parlt. V. 501/1 Brode clote..after almanere rakkyng streynyng or teyntyng therof.
2. (?) To embroider in a tent or frame.
1507Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 79 Payit to the broud⁓star for half ane hank gold threid for tenting, and gret papir for the Kingis doublat.
▪ X. tent, v.4 arch.|tɛnt|
[app. f. tent n.3; but cf. F. tenter in obs. sense (= sonder) to try the depth of, to sound; = med.L. tentāre to try.]
†a. trans. To probe (obs.).
b. To treat by means of a tent; to apply a tent to (a wound, etc., also to a person); to distend or plug with a tent. Also fig. Hence ˈtenting vbl. n.5
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 51/2 Ether in tenting of the wounde, by inscisione, by cauterisation. 1612Webster White Devil v. ii, Search my wound deeper; tent it with the steel That made it. 1639Shirley Maid's Rev. iii. vi, I have a sword dares tent a wound as far As any. 1685Crowne Sir C. Nice iv. Dram. Wks. 1874 III. 328 Yes, if you 'noint it presently with a good dish o' jelly⁓broth, and tent it with a bone o' roast beef. 1695tr. Colbatch's New Lt. Chirurg. Put out 32 Stitched them up..for fear they should have been kept open by tenting. 1828Scott F.M. Perth vii, Methinks I can tent this wound, and treat it with emollients.
▪ XI. † tent, v.5 Obs. rare.
[var. form of tend v.2, perh. on analogy of tend v.1 and tent v.1]
1. trans. Law. To offer, proffer: = tend v.2 5, tender v.1 1.
1459Rolls of Parlt. V. 371/1 An enquest takyn aforne his Eschetour..the which Offices John Fastolf Knyght, and othir, tentid to traverse, and by that meane hadd the said Manere. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 18 §24 All Traverses peticions monstrance de droit..to be tentyd or sued by eny persone or persones.
2. intr. To direct itself, be directed (to some end); = tend v.2 2.
1551Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark xii. 184 This deceiptful propheme tented [ed. 1548 tended] to this end, that if he had geuen sentence for the phariseis, then should he haue bene accused of the Herodians for an authour of rebellion, or insurreccion agaynst the Emperour.
▪ XII. tent, v.6|tɛnt|
[f. tent n.1: a number of unconnected uses.]
1. a. intr. To abide or live in a tent; to encamp; spec. of travelling circus folk. Also to tent it.
1856Kane 2nd Grinnell Exp. I. xxvii. 357 We will be gone for some days probably, tenting it in the open air. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. 154 Our travellers tented on a small level sward just outside the Convent-gates. 1875T. Frost Circus Life xvii. 292 During the summer months they ‘tented’, and in the winter erected temporary wooden buildings in populous towns. 1881Mrs. Holman Hunt Childr. Jerus. 189 Do you think we shall ever go tenting again, mother? 1893Scribner's Mag. June 703/2 The river crew is tenting out and clearing the stream. 1931S. McKechnie Pop. Entertainments viii. 209 The circus..was purchased by Frederick and Edward, who tented in the summer and spent the winter in..towns. 1952N. Streatfeild Aunt Clara 111 They had been tenting with their mother.
b. fig. To dwell temporarily; to sojourn, to tabernacle; to have one's abode; of a thing: to have its seat, ‘reside’.
1607Shakes. Cor. iii. ii. 116 The smiles of Knaues Tent in my cheekes, and Schoole-boyes Teares take vp The Glasses of my sight. 1751R. Shirra in Rem. (1850) 52 He tented or tabernacled in flesh among us. 1871Macduff Mem. Patmos xxii. 305 The Word came and dwelt (or lit. ‘tented’) among us. 1893E. G. Hirsch in Barrows Parl. Relig. II. 1304 Wherever man may tent, there also will curve upward the burning incense of his sacrifice.
2. trans. To cover or canopy as with a tent.
1838Mrs. Browning Seraphim ii. 604 The heavy darkness which doth tent the sky Floats backward as by a sudden wind. 1883Ld. R. Gower My Remin. I. xx. 410 A garden flanked by colonnades and covered passages had been tented in.
3. To accommodate, put up, or lodge in tents. Also fig.
1863Ld. Lytton Ring Amasis II. 81 Powers we can neither summon nor dismiss, are camped upon the brain and tented in the veins of men. 1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 481 The men should be tented, the tents should be well ventilated. 1882Armstrong Garland fr. Greece, Orithyia 8, I have tented the nymphs of the rills in pavilions of frozen spray. 1898Daily News 9 Mar. 3/2 All officers are tented in the same manner as the men.
†4. To pitch or spread (a tent); to put up, fix up, stretch, as a tent or its canvas. Obs.
1553Douglas's æneis viii. x. 23 That from the top of the hillys hyght The army all thai mycht se at a sight With tentis tentit [ed. Small, stentit] strekand to the plane. 1634W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. i. ii. (1865) 7 By good fires they sleepe as well and quietly (having their mayne sayle tented at their backes, to shelter them from the winde) as if they were at home.
5. To arrange in a shape suggesting a tent; esp., with the fingers as obj., = steeple v. 4.
1966D. Bagley Wyatt's Hurricane ii. 60 He tented his fingers and regarded Wyatt closely. 1977‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See xi. 182 She herself sat on the sofa..pulling her legs up under her Indian-fashion, the caftan tented over her knees. 1980TWA Ambassador Oct. 57/2 Gatmun tented the fat sausages of his fingers.
▪ XIII. tent
obs. and dial. form of tenth. |