| 释义 |
▪ I. fell, n.1|fɛl|
Forms: 1 fel(l, 2–7 fel, 3–6 felle, 2– fell. Also 3–4 vel, velle.
[Com. Teut.: OE. fel, fell str. neut., OFris. fel, OS. fel (Du. vel), OHG. fel (MHG. vel, mod.Ger. fell), ON. (ber-) fiall, Goth. (þruts-) fill n.:—OTeut. *fello(m:—pre-Teut. *pello-:—*pelno-, cognate with Gr. πέλλα, Lat. pellis skin; a derivative from the same root is film.]
1. The skin or hide of an animal:
a. with the hair, wool, etc.
Beowulf 2088 (Gr.) Sio wæs orþoncum eall ᵹeᵹyrwed..dracan fellum. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 334 Nim mereswines fel. a1175Cott. Hom. 225 God ham ȝeworhta þa reaf of fellan and hi were mid þan fellen ȝescridde. c1220Bestiary 135 For his fel he [neddre] ðer leteð. 1340Ayenb. 210 Zuych difference ase þer is be-tuene..þe uelle and þe beste. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 24 The herte..ffedith him on þe venym, his ffelle to anewe. a1400–50Alexander 5083 Sum fellis of fischis. c1483Caxton Vocab. 9 b, Of shepes fellis. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. (Arb.) 98 They carie furth..purple died felles. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. vii. 104 Her Wooll whose Staple doth excell..the golden Phrygian Fell. 1757Dyer Fleece (1807) 68 In loose locks of fells she most delights. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. viii. 37 The Horse I ride has his own whole fell. 1870Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 6 A lion's skin..So wrought with gold that the fell showed but dim Betwixt the threads.
†b. as distinguished from the hair, etc. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 418 Uelles wel i-tauwed. 1436Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 168 Of Scotlonde the commoditees Ar ffelles, hydes, and of wolle the ffleesse. 1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. ii. (1876) 51 Of our felles they make Spanish skins, Gloues, and Girdels. 1615T. Adams Lycanthropy 20 His fell good, his fleece good, his flesh good. 1719D'Urfey Pills V. 294 Wool, New pull d from tanned Fells.
c. Proverbs.
1548Hall Chron. (1809) 106 The old Proverbe..which saieth ‘If Shepe ronne wilfully emongest Wolves they shall lese ether Life or Fell.’ 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 20 The woolf iettes in weathers felles.
2. Said of the human skin, rarely of the skin covering an organ of the body. Often in phr. flesh and fell: see flesh. Now only as transf. from 1.
c1000Juliana 591 (Gr.) Næs..ne feax ne fel fyre ᵹemæled. c1200Ormin 8591, I fell & flæsh wiþþuten dæþ. a1300Sarmun vi. in E.E.P. (1862) 2 Þi velle þat is wiþ-oute. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 247 An evel þat was bytwene vel and flesche. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6076 In synnes, in Ioyntes, in fell, and flessh. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 19 b, The celles or felles that enuiron the harte. 1606Holland Sueton. 239 That kind of dropsy wherein water runneth between the fell and the flesh. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 23 The rest of his body sheeted in its thick natural fell. 1890H. M. Stanley in Times 6 May, A light brown fell stood out very clearly.
fig.a1225Ancr. R. 120 Nis þer, þeonne, bute vorworpen sone þet ruwe vel abute þe heorte.
†b. ‘The flesh immediately under the skin’ (Burns Gloss.). Obs.
1559Mirr. Mag., Dk. Gloucester xiii, She haply with her nayles may claw hym to the fell. 1567Turberv. Epitaphes, etc. 108 b, Augmenting still his secret sore by piercing fell and skin. 1786Burns Ordination xii. 5 See, how she peels the skin an' fell As ane were peelin onions!
3. A covering of hair, wool, etc., esp. when thick and matted; a fleece. Often in phr. a fell of hair, a head or shock of hair.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 55 We are still handling our Ewes and their Fels you know are greasie. 1605― Macb. v. v. 11 My Fell of haire Would at a dismall Treatise rowze, and stirre As life were in't. c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 162 A Sheepskyn accordinge to the growth of the fell. 1842N. A. Woods Tour Canada 14 Their flat Tartar features half hidden under a fell of coarse, unkempt hair. 1844Lowell Columbus, The surly fell of Ocean's bristled neck! 1872Lowell Dante Prose Wks. 1800 IV. 204 note, Reason (Virgil) first carries him down by clinging to the fell of Satan.
4. attrib. and Comb., as fell-rot (Sc.), fell-ware, fell-wound. Also fell-ill Sc. (see quot.); fell-poake Sc., waste clippings or parings resulting from the preparation of skins (used for manure); fell-wool (see quot. 1888), and fell-monger.
1798R. Douglas Agric. Roxb. 149 Aged cattle..are liable to be hide bound, a disease known here..by the name of the *fell-ill.
a1803J. Gretton in A. Hunter's Georg. Ess. (1803) III. 139 Get your *fell-poake on your head-land by the latter end of October.
1799Ess. Highland Soc. III. 465 Many different kinds of rot..as the..*fell-rot, the bone-rot and other rots.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 150 Ffurris of ffoyne and oþer *ffelle-ware.
1552Act 5–6 Edw. VI, c. 6 §1 Mingling *Fell-wool and Lambs-wool..with Fleece-wool. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. 278 This Fell wool they separate into five or six sorts. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Fell-wool, the wool pulled from sheep-skins in distinction from the fleece wool shorn from the living animal.
1382Wyclif Lev. xiii. 19 In the place of the bocche aperith a *fel wounde [Lat. cicatrix]. 1382― Jer. xxx. 17 Y schal helen parfitly thi felle wounde to thee.
▪ II. fell, n.2|fɛl|
Also 4–5 felle, 4–7 fel.
[a. ON. fiall (Sw. fiäll, Da. (fjeld) mountain, perh.:—OTeut. *felzo(m, related by ablaut to *faliso-, OHG. felis, mod.G. fels rock.]
1. A hill, mountain. Obs. exc. in proper names of hills in the north-west of England, as Bowfell, Scawfell, etc.
a1300Cursor M. 6461 (Cott.) Moyses went vp-on þat fell, and fourti dais can þer-on duell. Ibid. 22534 (Cott.) Þe dals up-rise, þe fells dun fall. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 64 Thurgh þe straytes of mountaynes and felles. c1470Harding Chron. ciii. vii, His graue is yet..vpon the fell. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 435 With clarions..Quhomeof the sound did found attouir the fell. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 755 High topped hilles and huge fels standing thicke together.
2. a. A wild, elevated stretch of waste or pasture land; a moorland ridge, down. Now chiefly in the north of England and parts of Scotland. Formerly often in phr. frith (firth) and fell: see frith.
a1300Cursor M. 7697 (Cott.) In frith and fell, Saul soght dauid for to quell. c1420Anturs of Arth. iv, Thay questun, thay quellun By frythun, by fellun. 1486Bk. St. Albans E j a, Wheresoeuer ye fare by fryth or by fell. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 66 The laif of ther fat flokkis follouit on the fellis. 1562Turner Herbal ii. 57 a, Feniculum..groweth in..wild mores, called felles. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xvii, The Syluans that..did dwell, Both in the tufty Frith, and in the mossy Fell. 1769Gray Lett. Wks. 1836 IV. 145 Greystock town and castle..lie only 3 miles (over the Fells) from Ulzwater. 1867J. Ingelow Gladys 169 With fell and precipice, It ran down steeply to the water's brink. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 121 The fell is ascended by the side of a ravine. 1880R. Broughton Sec. Th. iii. i, Fells and becks, whose cool memory has often come back..to her.
¶b. In 16–17th c. understood to mean: A marsh, fen.
1514Fitzherb. Just. Peas (1538) 115 Lowe grounds for medowes, felles, fennes. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 23 Throgh fels and trenches thee chase thee coompanye tracked. 1611Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. Pref., Her Fels and Fens so replenished with wilde foule. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. iii. 42 Ye..be grac't With floods or marshie fels.
c. Sc. ‘A field pretty level on the side or top of a hill’ (Burns Glossary in Poems 1787).
1794Burns Now Westlin Winds ii, The partridge loves the fruitful fells; The plover loves the mountains.
3. attrib., as in fell-berry, fell-farm, fell-foot, fell-gate, fell-head, fell-land (hence fell-lander), fell-mouse, fell-mutton, fell-range, fell-ridge, fell-sheep, fell-side, fell-top, fell-walker, fell-walking; fell-bloom, the flower of Bird's-foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus (Jam.); fell-field (see quot. 1916); fell hound, a variety of foxhound bred for hunting in hill-country; fell-thrush, the missel-thrush.
1884Pall Mall G. 16 July 4/2 We make wonderfully good *fell-berry puddings.
1908W. G. Collingwood Scand. Brit. ii. ii. 180 In Cumberland..on *fell farms. 1951M. Lloyd (title) Fell Farm Holiday.
1916B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms (ed. 3) 144 *Fell-fields, districts of dwarf, scattered plants, chiefly Cryptogams. 1959A. McLintock Descr. Atlas N.Z. 28 Subalpine scrub and fellfield in more elevated situations.
1761in Wesley's Jrnl. 18 Apr. (1827) III. 49 ‘Take the galloway, and guide them to the *Fell foot’.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Fell-head, the top of a mountain not distinguished by a peak.
1920R. Clapham Foxhunting on Lakeland Fells iii. 51 A *fell hound should stand under, rather than over, 22½ inches. 1948C. E. Lloyd in B. Vesey-Fitzgerald Bk. Dog ii. 452 The Royal Fell Hound Show has done a lot not only to improve the breed but also to promote interest and goodwill.
1890Westmoreland Gaz. 8 Nov. 4/3, 2,640 Acres of *Fell Land.
1774T. West Antiq. Furness p. xlv, The *fellanders of Furness.
1874G. W. Dasent Tales fr. Fjeld 332 There was no end to the *fell-mouse's greediness.
1769Gray Lett. Wks. 1836 IV. 158 *Fell-mutton is now in season.
1863Spring Lapl. 55 The great dividing *fell-range between Norway and Sweden.
1886Pall Mall G. 6 Aug. 5/2 The ptarmigan..soaring over the *fell-ridge with a low chuckle.
Ibid. 9 Aug. 4/1 The *fell sheep suffered severely.
1862T. Shorter in Weldon's Register Aug. 24 His early *fell-side neighbours. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 322 A point on the fellside is reached where are two paths.
1879Cumbrld. Gloss. Suppl., *Fell thrush.
1886Pall Mall G. 6 Aug. 5/2 That *fell top appeared to be uninhabited by any more [ptarmigan].
1957Clark & Pyatt Mountaineering in Brit. i. 24 Jackson..was a persistent *fell-walker and scrambler.
1956C. Evans On Climbing i. 13 It is as common to start by being taken up a climb as by *fell-walking.
▸ fell runner n. Brit. a partcipant in fell running.
1929Times 4 Feb. 10/2 The crowd..pours into the dale in August to see the *fell runners and wrestlers at the Grasmere sports. 2006Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 24 Mar. Tomorrow fell-runners will be heading for..the 10-mile Ras yr Aran, which involves 2,500 feet of ascent.
▸ fell running n. Brit. the sport or activity of running over fells or hilly terrain, esp. in north-west England.
1920F. Muirhead England 415 Grasmere Sports..are the chief athletic festival in the Lake District, with the best wrestling (Cumberland-Westmorland style), *fell-running, and hound-trailing. 2001Techn. Guide (YHA Adventure Shops) Summer 73/2 Versatile, stable & comfortable daysack designed for fell running, cycling & cross country skiing.
▪ III. † fell, n.3 Obs. rare—1.
[a. L. fell-, fel gall.]
Gall, bitterness; hence, animosity, rancour.
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. xi. 2 Untroubled of vile feare or bitter fell.
▪ IV. fell, n.4|fɛl|
[f. fell v.; in some senses perh. repr. OE. fięll: see fall n.]
1. The action of the vb. fell in various senses.
a. A knockdown blow.
1877Holderness Gloss. s.v., ‘If thoo disn't 'mind ah sal be givin tha a fell inoo.’
b. A cutting down of timber; concr. the timber cut down at one season; = fall n.1 14.
165.Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1871) I. 280 Ordinary fells. 1663Pepys Diary 11 Dec., When a fell is made, they leave here and there a grown tree. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Coppice, Leave young Trees enough, you may take down the worst at the next Fell. 1767A. Young Farmer's Lett. People 156 A small fell will amount to..thirty pounds. 1888Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch I. x, The trees were gone.. ‘Cut down this spring fell’.
c. The sewing down (a fold, etc.) level with the cloth (see fell v. 6); concr. a ‘felled’ seam.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., Fell..a form of hem in which one edge is folded over the other and sewed down; or in which one edge is left projecting and is sewed down over the previous seam. 1885Brietzcke & Rooper Plain Needlewk. 29 The fell..means, hemming neatly the turned down edge on to the material itself. 1885Mrs. Croly Man. Needlework 9 Hem, fell, gather and buttonhole.
d. A ‘fall’ of lambs. Obs. exc. dial.
1625B. Jonson Pan's Anniversary, So shall the first of all our fells be thine. 1823in Moor Suffolk Words.
2. ‘The line of termination of a web in the process of weaving, formed by the last weft-thread driven up by the lay; the line to which the warp is at any instant wefted’ (Ogilvie).
1874in Knight Dict. Mech. s.v. 1882in Caulfeild Dict. Needlewk. s.v. Felling.
3. Comb., as fell wood, timber ready to be felled; fellable wood.
1736Neal Hist. Purit. III. 21 The Londoners were distressed..for coals, which obliged them to have recourse to the..cutting down all fell wood on the estates of Delinquents.
▪ V. fell, n.5 Mining.|fɛl|
a. Lead ore in its rough state. Cf. bouse n.2
b. Lead ore siftings.
1653E. Manlove Lead-mines 266 Fell, Bous and Knock⁓barke. 1851[see bouse n.2]. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Fell..the finer portions of lead ore which fall through the meshes of the sieve when the ore is sorted by sifting.
▪ VI. fell, a. and adv.|fɛl|
Forms: 3–5 felle, 3–6 fel(e, 3– fell.
[a. OF. fel = Pr. fel, It. fello fierce, cruel, savage:—popular Lat. fellō, nom. of fellōn-em n.: see felon.]
A. adj.
1. Of animals and men, their actions and attributes: Fierce, savage; cruel, ruthless; dreadful, terrible. Also in cruel and fell, fierce and fell. Now only poet. or rhetorical.
a1300Cursor M. 3974 (Cott.) Esau..was fel and wald noght spare. Ibid. 20935 (Cott.) [P]Aul..bicome..schep o wolf, and mek of fell. 1340Ayenb. 61 Þe felliste best þet me clepeþ hyane. c1350Will. Palerne 3614 Þo bi-gan þat batayle..Feller saw neuer frek from Adam to þis time. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 44 Herode was a full wikkid man and a fell. c1450Gesta Rom. xxxi. 115 (Add. MS.) By a felle lyon thou shalt lose thi lyf. c1470Henry Wallace i. 109 Quhen fechtyng was fellast. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour x. 14 Alle proude hertys that be felle. 1553Brende Q. Curtius S vij, He beheld them with a fell countenaunce and rose up to have stricken at them. 1622Dekker Virg. Martir i. Wks. 1873 IV. 10 My fell hate. 1634Milton Comus 257 Fell Charybdis murmured soft applause. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxii. 78 Such fell and cruel people, as the Chineses were. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 184/2 The..Ban-dog..is fierce, is fell, is stout, is strong. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. xxxiii. 238, ‘I will risque all consequences’ said the fell wretch. 1812Byron Ch. Har. i. xv, And earth from fellest foemen purge. 1813Scott Rokeby iv. xxvi, His fell design. 1847Emerson Poems, Dæmonic Love Wks. (Bohn) I. 465 Even the fell Furies are appeased. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 118 With all the fell ferocity of men falling on their bitterest feudal enemy. 1877C. Geikie Christ xxiii. (1879) 255 The soul..drawn down to earth by a fell necessity.
2. Of things, esp. of natural agents, weapons, disease, suffering, etc.: Keen, piercing, intensely painful or destructive. Of poison: Deadly. Still dial. in colloquial use; in literature only poet. and rhetorical: Dire, appallingly cruel or destructive.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 421 [The Ark] Flote forthe with the flyt of þe felle wyndez. Ibid. B. 954 Felle flaunkes of fyr. a1330Otuel 59 Oliuer..bar a spere kene & fel. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 31 Þe flesshe is a fel wynde. c1440York Myst. xiv. 72 Þe fellest freese þat euer I felyd. c1440Bone Flor. 1973 Hys sekeness was so felle. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 74 The wedderis ar sa fell, that fallis on the feild. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 66 Like as the Zones..the middest of them all men eschew, the burning is so fell. 1567Turberv. Epitaphes, etc. (1837) 386 Small arrowis, cruel heads, that fel and forked be. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 803 To guard its Leader from fell bane. 1729T. Cooke Tales, Proposals, etc. 139 With the fellest Venom swells his Veins. 1742Gray To Adversity v, Despair, and fell Disease, and ghastly Poverty. 1757Smollett Reprisal Epil., Such fell seas of trouble. 1787Burns Winter Night i, Biting Boreas, fell and doure. 1831Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 309 Common ashes are solemnly labelled as fell poison. 1867G. Macdonald Poems 194 Hunger fell is joined with frost.
b. of an incident, portion of time, etc.
c1340Cursor M. 22428 (Fairf.) Þe cruel dais & felle be-for domis-dai þai salle be sene. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. ii. 53 For drede of fellare chawns Sum of þaim þan fled in Frawns. c1470Henry Wallace iv. 110 Bot fell tithings was brocht Persie beforn. 1557Tottell's Misc., Golden Meane (1870) 256 Of lofty ruing towers the fals the feller be. 1799Sheridan Pizarro iii. ii, The last and fellest peril of thy life. 1821J. Baillie Met. Leg., Columb. xlv, The injured Hero's fellest hour.
c. Sc. With reference to taste: Keen, pungent.
1786Burns Cotter's Saturd. Nt. 96 The dame brings forth..her weel-hain'd kebbuck, fell.
†3. Hot, angry, enraged, virulent. Obs.
1382Wyclif Ecclus. xxiii. 22 A fel soule as fyr brennende shal not be quenchid. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 86 Amon was right fel and wrothe. 1558Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. xxix. 186 The manne ought not to be bitter and fell agaynste his wyfe in vsing brawlinges. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 20 Oberon is passing fell and wrath.
4. Full of spirit, sturdy, doughty. Obs. exc. dial.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 125 Þe burgeis were fulle felle. c1400Destr. Troy 129 A faire man of feturs, & fellist in armys. 1475Bk. Noblesse 64 To make the Romains more egir and fellir in that bataile. 1522World & Child in Hazl. Dodsley I. 252 So fell a fighter in a field was there never y-found. 1593Drayton Eclogues iv. 122 Fell was he and eager bent In Battaile. 1815Scott Guy M. xxii, A fell chield at the vermin. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘I wasn't i' fell order’, not in able condition.
b. Const. for, on, † to: In earnest, eager; bent or intent upon. Obs. exc. dial.
1666Pepys Diary 15 Jan., I am so fell to my business that I..will not go. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘Thoo's mair fell for thy dinner than rife for a race.’ 1888Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch xxviii, I am rarely fell on seeing them and having a holiday look round Lunnon.
†5. Shrewd; clever, cunning. Obs.
c1275Lay. 5302 Mid hire felle [c 1205 præt] wrenches. 1382Wyclif Prov. xii. 16 Who forsothe dissymulith wrongus is fel. c1400Beryn 1853 Evandir was his name, that sottill was and fell. c1475Partenay 1237 Till thay wer growyn ryght large, wyse, and fell. 1561Randolph Let. 7 Dec. in Keith Hist. Ch. & St. Scot. (1734) I. 205 Liddington hath a crafty Head and fell Tongue. 1725Ramsay Gent. Sheph. iii. ii, The fellest fortune-teller e'er was seen.
6. In weakened sense: Exceedingly great, huge, mighty. Obs. exc. Sc.
1515Scot. Field 44 There they fell, at the first shotte Many a fell fothir. 1586J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 22 This Harrat hath spent a fell time in bussing like a preacher. 1889J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums xiv. 131 ‘It had a fell lot o' brass aboot it.’
†7. quasi-n. The adj. used absol. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 1124 (Cott.), ‘Caym ware es þi broiþer abell?’ ‘I wat neuer,’ said he, þat fell. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1565 Þer þe felle bydez.
8. Comb., as fell-like adj. (dial.)
1854Phemie Millar VII. 179 She did think it was a fell like thing that any one..should be thinking of nonsense.
B. adv.
1. In a ‘fell’ manner; † cruelly, fiercely (obs.); eagerly, vigorously, excessively (obs. exc. dial.).
a1300Cursor M. 23997 (Cott.) Quen i sagh þaa juus snell, Rise again mi sun sua fell, ful wanles wex i þan. c1320Sir Tristr. 97 He..Was wounded in þat fiȝt Ful felle. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1040 Þat fel fretes þe flesch & festred bones. c1470Harding Chron. cxcvii. v, He chastised theim no feller as was sene. 1597Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxii. 10 ‘Fell peart,’ quod Cupid, ‘thou appeirs.’ 1832–53Whistle-binkie (Sc. Songs) Ser. iii. 114 Our Sawnies and Maggies..At e'en blythe will dance, yet work fell the neist morn. 1863Morton Cycl. Agric. (E.D.S.), A plough goes too fell when going deeper than is wished. 1876Whitby Gloss., He eats his meat varry fell. 1889J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums xvi. 148 She was ‘complaining fell (considerably) about her back the day’.
2. Comb. with ppl. adjs.
1587Misfort. Arthur i. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 268 Cast off this..fell-disposed mind. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 146 These fell-lurking Curres. 1795Fate Sedley II. 62 Goaded by the fell pointed spear. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., Fell-bred, of a vicious kind.
▪ VII. fell, v.|fɛl|
pa. tense and pa. pple. felled |fɛld|. Forms: 1 fellan, fyllan, Northumb. fællan, 2–5 felle(n, (5 fellyn), 4–6 fel, 3– fell.
[OE. fęllan, fięllan, fyllan = OFris. falla, fella, OS. fellian (Du. vellen), OHG. fellen (MHG. vellen, mod.Ger. fällen), ON. fella (Da. fælde, Sw. fälla):—OTeut. *falljan, causative of *fall-an fall v.]
trans. To cause to fall.
1. To cut, knock, or strike down (a man or animal). † Also, to bring down (with a missile). Often with down, to the ground, etc.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) cxxxviii. 16 [cxxxix. 19] Ȝif þu syððan wylt þa firenfullan fyllan mid deaðe. a1325Prose Psalter cv[i] 26 He feld hem doun in wildernesse. a1330Otuel 60 Anwe of Nubie..felde Oliuer to grounde. 1375Barbour Bruce xii. 524 Mon worthy men..wes fellit in that ficht. a1400Cov. Myst. (1841) 65 Opyn in the fielde the fend he shal felle. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xii. 288, I felde hym doun ded afore me to therthe. c1500Lancelot 3299 Sum in the feld fellit is in swon. 1600Holland Livy xxiii. 490 Most of them were felled and strucken stark dead. 1671Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 168 A great White Bear..which he shot at, and fell'd her down. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 41 On the top of a withered Stump sate perching a Chamelion..I caused a Black..to fell him with an Earthen Pellet. 1702Pope Wife of Bath 416, I, with one buffet fell'd him on the floor. 1843Lever J. Hinton xxix, Straight between the eyes the weapon struck me, and felled me to the ground. 1852R. F. Burton Falconry in Vall. of Indus v. 60 If two [hawks] are flown they are certain to fell the game. 1855Smedley H. Coverdale li, With one blow of this [fist] I believe I could fell an ox.
absol.c1400Melayne 266 Thay felde faste of oure chevalrye. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 332 Bot still thai stude durst nother fell nor fle. 1542–5Brinklow Lament. (1874) 86 When he striketh, he felleth to the grounde.
†b. to fell along: to lay (a man) at full length.
1665Dryden Indian Emp. ii. ii, I fell'd along a Man of bearded Face. 1668― Evening's Love v. i, A huge giant seized my torch, and felled me along.
†c. To kill. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 22903 (Cott.) An hungre leon..þis wolf..feld ant ete him al. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. xii. 65, I shal felle þat freke in a fewe dayes! a1400–50Alexander 3011 (Dublin MS.) Full fele fleys may nott felle bott a few wasspez. 1681S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 58 They felled all our hens and cocks.
d. Of a disease, hunger, etc.: To lay low, lay prostrate; † to kill. Obs. exc. dial.
c900Bæda's Hist. iv. xvii. [xiii.] (1891) 302 Heo mid arleasre cwale fylde wæron. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Þenne hit þat tuderinde wiðleoð and cumeð coðe oðer qualm and michel þerof felleð. a1605Montgomerie Flyting w. Polwart 305 The fersie, the falling-euill, that fels many freikes. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. ii. iii. (1845) 106 Feavers burn us..Epilepsies fell us, Colicks tear us. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss., ‘Felled with his ailment’, prostrate with sickness.
†e. fig. To cast down, defeat, ruin, humiliate. Obs. Also dial. of anything startling: To ‘knock (one) down’.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) lxxiii. 22 [lxxiv. 23] Fyll þa ofer hydigan. a1340Hampole Psalter cxxii. 1 Ill luf fellis us doun in til the erth. 1535Coverdale Isa. x. 33 He shal..fel the hie mynded. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i, Starke feld with brusing stroke of chance. 1855Mrs. Gaskell North & S. xxxvi, ‘I'm welly felled wi' seeing him.’
2. To cut down (a tree). Also, † to fell down.
a1000Riddles ii. 9 (Gr.) Ic..beamas fylle. a1300Cursor M. 12395 (Cott.) He him suld sli timber fell. a1400Morte Arth. 1247 He fellez forestez fele. 1520Caxton's Chron. Eng. ii. 11 b/2 Brute caused to fell downe woddes. 1545Brinklow Compl. xxiii. (1874) 58 Ye must fell down to the ground those rotten postys, the bisshops. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 105 b, The chesnut may bee felde every seventh yeere. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 575 Oak or Firr With branches lopt in Wood or Mountain fell'd. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 340 They found three trees..and they..felled and shaped them. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. II. i. 195 Gigantic forests were felled.
absol.1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xiii, They went out to fell at a cluster of small spruce fir about a mile off.
†3. To break down, overthrow, knock down (a building, construction, or erection of any kind).
a1000Crist 486 (Gr.) Hergas fyllað. Ibid. 709 (Gr.) Þa synsceaðan..godes tempel..fyldon. a1000Cross 73 (Gr.) Þa us man fyllan onᵹan ealle to eorðan. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 366/43 Þe prince for wrathþe of his [seint Iacob's] prechingue þe laddre a-doun gan felle. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 526 A wynd..So grete yt com, þat yt yelde mony hous adoun. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 4002 Amalek he smote on the crovn That twoo quarters he feld a-doun Of his helme. 1467Mann. & Househ. Exp. 172 The walls of the salte howses..schal be felled or it be long. 1607Topsell Serpents (1658) 785 The..web..if one throw or cast dust upon it..will rather be distended and stretched, then either undone, broken, or felled down.
†b. To knock (fruit or leaves) off a tree. Obs.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 128 That elde felde efte þat frut. c1400Rom. Rose 911 Nyghtyngales..The leeves felden as they flyen.
†4. To cause to stumble; to trip up; in quot. fig. Obs.
c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. v. 29 Gif þanne þin eᵹe þæt swiþre fælle þec ahloca hit & awerp from ðe. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 126 Ȝowre fadre she felled þorw fals biheste.
†5. Without the notion of suddenness or violence: To bring or let down, lower, abate. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 1480 (Cott.) Þan sal þai fel þat fals strijf. Ibid. 3376 (Cott.) Þe mikel luue o rebecca Þan feld þe soru o dame sarra. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 890 Y shal ȝow telle What shal best þys tempest felle. c1330― Chron. (1810) 48 Þe burgeis of London..said þei suld fond to felle Knoutes pride. c1400Test. Love i. (1560) 275 b/1 My blisse and my mirth arn felde. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2712 His hote loue I shal fell. 14..How Goode Wif Taught hir Daughter 25 in Hazl. E.P.P. 49 Ne goe thou noght to tauerne thi wurchipe to felle. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 177 To felle alle fowlle defame. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 22 The Circumflex accent both liftes and felles the syllab that it possesseth.
6. To stitch down (the wider of the two edges left projecting by a seam) so that it lies flat over the other edge and leaves a smooth surface on the under-side of the seam. Also, to fell a seam.[Etymological identity with the other senses is not certain; but the general sense ‘cause to fall’ appears applicable.] 1758Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 III. 7 It is to be sewed together, the edges being first felled down. 1842Barham Ingol. Leg., Aunt Fanny, Each..began working..‘Felling the Seams’, and ‘whipping the Frill’. 1887Spons' Househ. Managem., Workroom 891 Fell down the turnings, or only overcast them. 1892Weldon's Ladies' Jrnl. Oct. 73 This opening is turned in once on the wrong side, over which is felled a piece of binding.
absol.1862M. T. Morrall Needle-making 41 I'm teaching little Mary to gather and to fell.
Hence ˈfelling ppl. a.
1597Daniel Civ. Wars iii. lxxv, Now wardes a felling blow, now strikes again. |