| 释义 |
▪ I. fetch, n.1|fɛtʃ|
[f. fetch v.]
1. a. The action of fetching, bringing from a distance, or reaching after; lit. and fig.; a long stretch, a far-reaching effort. Also to take a fetch.
1549Chaloner Erasmus on Folly N iij a, To the ende he myght shew his learnyng to the people..he toke a new fetche in his mattier. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 88 With all their fine long fetches and..arguments. 1612Shelton Quix. I. i. viii. 52 Nor did he hold the Fetch of Adventures to be a Labour. 1662Glanvill Lux Orient. viii. (1682) 61 There being vast fetches in the divine wisdom which we comprehend not. 1681― Sadducismus ii. (1726) 450 Certainly Wit is not..a Wild fetch. 1692Bp. Patrick Answ. to Touchstone 74 From that which follows, there is a wonderful fetch. 1831E. Irving Expos. Rev. I. 354 Deep fetches from the secrets of God. 1855Bain Senses & Int. iii. ii. §14 We can..leap from one passage to another, by the remotest fetches. 1881Shairp Asp. Poetry ii. 59 What but a great fetch of imaginative power? 1938J. H. McCulloch Sheep Dogs iv. 35 (heading) Course: [for qualifying trials]..Gathering—400 yards. In outrun, dog may be directed on either side. Straight fetch through gate set midway. 1946F. D. Davison Dusty xi. 117 The trial had four phases..the fetch, when he [sc. the dog] brought them [sc. the sheep] down the length of the course to where his owner waited [etc.].
†b. A ‘sweep’, sweeping movement. Obs.
1617Hall Quo Vadis Wks. §16. 59 So haue we seene an Hauke..after many carelesse..fetches, to towre vp vnto the prey intended. a1625Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, Gave his cuffe With such a fetch and reach of gentrie. a1654Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 90 Some mathematicians..could with one fetch of their Pen make an exact Circle.
2. A contrivance, dodge, stratagem, trick; also, a fetch of law, policy, state, and to cast a fetch.
c1530Redforde Play Wit & Sc. (1848) 8 Beware the fechys Of Tediousnes. 1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. xli. 7 And cast their fetches how to trap me with some mortall harme. 1575Grindal Let. to Burleigh Wks. (1843) 352 By lease or any other fetch of law. 1635N. R. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iii. 355 The crafty fetches of the wilie Prince of Orange. a1677Barrow Serm. (1683) II. ix. 135 No struglings of might, no fetches of policy. 1718Freethinker No. 49. 355, I know the Sex too well, not to understand..their Termegant Fetches. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 267 This might be another of their politick Fetches. 1762Foote Liar ii. Wks. 1799 I. 300 A mere fetch to favour his retreat. 1848Lowell Fable for Critics Poet. Wks. (1879) 135 A fetch, I must say, most transparent and flat. 1858Bushnell Nat. & Supernat. xi. (1864) 365 It is no ingenious fetches of argument that we want.
3. Naut.
a. An act of tacking.
b. (See quots.) More generally, the expanse of water over which the wind blows before it reaches the point of observation (on the water or at the water's edge); the distance that waves can travel continuously without obstruction.
a.1555Eden Decades 231 They remayned..abowte that cape with many fetches compassyng the wynd. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 51 After several Fetches to and again, at last they were within Call of us.
b.1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fetch of a bay or gulf, the whole stretch from head to head or point to point. 1880T. Stevenson in Encycl. Brit. XI. 456/2 The line of greatest fetch or reach of open sea. 1882Ibid. XIV. 615/1 What is wanted is to ascertain in such shorter seas the height of waves in relation to the length of ‘fetch’ in which they are generated. 1934Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIV. 272 The fetch must of course be sufficient; a moderate gale would develop on Lake Superior a wave of only half the height that it would have if in the open Atlantic Ocean. 1950P. H. Kuenen Marine Geol. i. 76 In the Mediterranean, where the length of fetch is restricted, the highest waves reported are 4 to 5 m. 1965H. J. McLellan Elem. Physical Oceanogr. xiv. 99/1 Some quite sophisticated methods have been developed for the prediction of wind wave conditions based on the variables Fetch, Duration, and Wind Speed.
4. dial.
a. An indrawn breath, a sigh.
b. A difficulty in breathing.
1832W. Stephenson Gateshead Local Poems 18 Peggy said, and gave a fetch, ‘Then I'll go and attend him’. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘I have a fetch and a catch’, a stitch in the side. 1878Cumbrld. Gloss., Fetch, an indrawn breath.
5. nonce-use. A decoy-bird.
1624Massinger Parl. Love iv. iii, This fellow..looks as if he were her call, her fetch.
†6. with adv. fetch-about: a roundabout phrase, a circumlocution. Cf. fetch v. 11. Obs.
1540Coverdale Fruitf. Less. Pref. Wks. 1844 I. 207 Though the grace of the Holy Ghost use not long fetches about. 1587Golding De Mornay vi. 82 After many florishes and fetches about.
▪ II. fetch, n.2|fɛtʃ|
[Of obscure origin.
Although Grose in our first quot. assigns the word to the north of England, there seems to be no other evidence that the simple n. was ever in popular use elsewhere than in Ireland. The supposition that it is shortened from fetch-life, or some equivalent compound of the vb.-stem, would plausibly account for the sense. On the other hand, it may be noted that the Corpus Glossary a 800 has ‘Faecce maere’. As fæcce seems to admit of no explanation as a Lat. word, it may be conjectured to be OE., and the source of the present n.; in the archetype followed fæcce and mære (nightmare) may have been given as alternative English glosses on some Lat. word, and the compiler may have mistaken the former for a Lat. lemma.]
1. The apparition, double, or wraith of a living person; see quot. 1825.
1787Grose Prov. Gloss., Fetch, the apparition of a person living. N[orth Country]. 1825J. Banim Tales O'Hara Fam., The Fetches, In Ireland, ‘a fetch’ is the supernatural fac-simile of some individual, which comes to ensure to its original a happy longevity, or immediate dissolution; if seen in the morning, the one event is predicted; if in the evening, the other. 1830Scott Demonol. vi. 177 His..fetch or wraith, or double-ganger. 1862M. Leadbeater Ann. Ballitore I. vi. 188 She believed she had seen his fetch as a forerunner of his death. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. I. 408 The Earl of Cornwall met the fetch of his friend William Rufus.
fig.1839New Monthly Mag. LV. 342 Presentiment is the Fetch of danger.
2. ? Comb. fetch-like = sense 1.
1841S. C. Hall Irel. I. 13 Seeing his fetch-like before me.
▪ III. † fetch, n.3 Naut. Obs.
var. or perversion of fish n.2
1670Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 113, I was much afraid that I should lose my Main-mast, it fetched such Way, and broke the Spikes that fastned the Fetches with working.
▪ IV. fetch
obs. form of vetch.
▪ V. fetch, v.|fɛtʃ|
Forms: 1 feccan, fæccan, 2 feccean, 2–4 fec(c)hen, 3 Orm. fecchenn, 3–5 fechchen, south. vechchen, (3 fæchen, fechin, 4 fec(c)hyn, 5 fetchyn), 4–6 fec(c)he, south. vecche, 4–5 fech, foc(c)he, 5–6 fac(c)h(e, south. vacche, (4 fochche), 3–6 fetche(n, fatche, (5 fotche), 9 dial. fatch, vetch, Sc. fesh, 6– fetch. pa. tense 3 fæhte, 5 feight(e, 8 fought, Sc. fush, 6– fetched.
[c gray][OE. fecc(e)an; according to Platt (Anglia VI.) and Sievers an altered form of fetian (see fet v.), the originally syllabic i having, it is supposed, become consonantal, and the resulting combination (tj[/c]) having developed into the closely resembling sound expressed by cc, i.e. either the geminated palatal stop, or something between this and its mod. representative |tʃ|. Cf. OE. orceard orchard from ort-ᵹeard.
Although no other instance is known in which the change of ti into cc (= tʃ) has occurred, the correctness of the explanation is strongly supported by the fact that in OE. the forms with cc are confined to those parts of the vb. in which the regular conjugation of fetian has an i. Thus fetian, fetie, fetiað gave place to feccan, fecce, feccað, but feta, fetast, fetað remained unchanged.]
I.
1. trans. To go in quest of, and convey or conduct back. The first part of the notion is often additionally expressed by go or come. a. with obj. a person or animal.
c1000ælfric Gen. xlii. 34 Þæt ᵹe þisne eowerne broþur feccon. a1123O.E. Chron. an. 1121 He his dohter let feccean. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 75 Wanne þu lest wenst deað cumeð to fecchende þe. a1225Ancr. R. 368 He wule..uechchen hire allunge to him to glorie buten ende. a1400Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 199 Goe fourthe, Joseph..And fatche our sonne. c1420Chron. Vilod. 732 Þey wolden þt theffe ouȝt fache. 1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xvii. 31 Saul..caused him [Dauid] be fetched. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 53 Ile goe fetch thy sonnes To backe thy quarrell. 1600― A.Y.L. iii. iii. 1, I wil fetch vp your Goates. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 104 The Frigat..went to fetch her aboord. 1747Hoadley Susp. Husb. i. i, The Devil fetch me, Child, you look'd so prettily, that [etc.]. 1771Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 30 There were some small boats and we called to them to fetch us. 1845E. Holmes Mozart 17 We are everywhere fetched..in the carriages of the nobility. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 83 His hearers..went armed to fetch him.
b. with obj. a thing.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 17 Ne ga he nyðyr þat he æniᵹ þing on his huse fecce. c1200Ormin 8633 He badd tatt ȝho shollde himm Þa an litell water fecchenn. c1205Lay. 17305 Brutes..comen..to fæchen þa stanes. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2889 Hem-seluen he fetchden ðe chaf. c1340Cursor M. 8716 (Fairf.) He bad ga focche his brande. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1347 Dido, And bad hire norice..gon To fechyn fyr. c1400Destr. Troy 4099 Poterhas & Protesselon..fecchid out of Philace..fyfte shippes. c1460Towneley Myst. 199 A stoylle Go fotche us. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 27 They can goen vnder the water & feche so the fysshes out of the water. 1546Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 26 A horse to fache the rope. 1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 213, I will fetch off my bottle. 1632Lithgow Trav. x. 477 Goe fetch me Wine. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xv. 412 Our Guide made..signs for us to fetch..some of our meat. 1722De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 46 Step and fetch my flute. 1809Kendall Trav. II. xlvii. 150 He had then gone home..to fetch a knife. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, The first cab had been fetched from the public-house.
†c. To steal. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 51 Bothe my gees & my grys his gadelynges feccheth. 1622Fletcher Beggar's Bush v. i, What's the action we are for now? ha?..The fetching of a back of clothes or so.
d. to fetch and carry: lit. chiefly of dogs (cf. carry 2); fig. to run backwards and forwards with news, tales, etc. Hence fetch-and-carry n., the action of fetching and carrying; one who fetches and carries, a subservient person; also as adj., tale-bearing.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 274 Her Masters-maid..hath more qualities then a Water-Spaniell..Imprimis, Shee can fetch and carry. 1696Lond. Gaz. No. 3229/4 A brown Gelding..will fetch and carry like a Dog. 1770Foote Lame Lover ii. Wks. 1799 II. 80 Miss is so fond of fetching and carrying. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 226 A raven..may be taught to fetch and carry like a spaniel. 1787W. Cowper Let. 24 Dec. (1904) III. 198, I gave him [sc. a dog] a lesson in the science of fetch and carry. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xlix, That fetch-and-carry tell-tale. 1838J. P. Kennedy Rob of Bowl I. 43 Come and go as you list—none of your fetch and carry. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xii. 145 As if nobody had nothing to fetch and carry, But spying all the doings of one's neighbor. 1905D. G. Phillips Plum Tree 284 He is the fetch-and-carry of an impudent and cowardly crowd in Wall Street. c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 35 He's a..sort of fetch-and-carry For the comic ‘Welfare League’.
2. a. To cause to come, as by a summons or constraining force; to succeed in bringing; to draw forth, elicit (e.g. blood, tears, etc.). Now rare.
c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 341 To your routh, and to your trouth I crye, But well away, to ferre been they to fetch. 1552Huloet, Fetche by callinge, accerso. 1553Bale Vocacyon in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 348 They can fatch their frendes sowles from flaminge purgatory. 1580Sidney Arcadia iv. (1590) 427 Shee..with a pitiful cry fetched his eyes unto her. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 48 Thy hounds shall..fetch shrill ecchoes from the hollow earth. 1621Bp. Hall Heaven upon Earth §4 An vnwonted extremitie of the blow shall fetch blood of the soule. 1622Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer (1661) 119 A new Star..fetcht the Sages of the East to..worship him. 1691Ray Creation (1714) 228 The infant after divers times drawing fetch'd some milk. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xvi. 442 The way of fetching Fire out of Wood. 1733Pope Ess. Man iii. 222 Fetch th' aerial eagle to the ground. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 25 Sympathy would fetch the tear From each young list'ner. 1862Thackeray Four Georges ii, The great bell fetches us into a parlor.
b. To make (the butter) ‘come’ by churning.
1853Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. i. 74 The old barrel-churn..will fetch it [butter] in cold weather in a quarter of an hour. 1844W. Barnes Poems Rural Life, Dorset Dial., A Witch 21 Tha cooden vetch the butter in the churn.
c. to fetch the water, and (hence) to fetch the pump: to obtain a flow of water by ‘priming’.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Charger la pompe, to fetch the pump. c1790J. Imison Sch. Art I. 170 Water is commonly poured thereon down the pipe, vulgarly called fetching the water. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fetching the pump.
†d. To restore to consciousness; = 12 b. Obs.
1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 493 She..then fainted againe, and againe they fetched her. 1728Gay Begg. Op. i. viii, Give her another Glass..This, you see, fetches her. 1744Much Ado in S. Fielding's Lett. D. Simple (1752) II. 185 She is coming, Madam, to herself—I believe we have fetched her.
3. Of a commodity: To ‘bring in’, realize, sell for (a certain price). † Also rarely of money: To purchase, procure (commodities).
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 48 b, As money will fetch all other commodities, so this knowledge is that which should purchase all the rest. 1695Locke Further Consid. Value of Money (ed. 2) 103 During such a state, Silver in the Coin will never fetch as much as the Silver in Bullion. 1752Foote Taste i. 3 The Guido, what did that fetch? 1832H. Martineau Homes Abroad iv. 57 His land..fetched 15s. an acre. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 358 Wretched creatures..exposed for what little they could fetch in the Roman Forum.
4. To move to interest, admiration, or goodwill by some happy contrivance or telling feature; to attract irresistibly. Also absol. to ‘take’, attract, be telling or effective. Now colloq. or slang.
1605B. Jonson Volpone i. ii, I apprehend What thoughts he has..That this would fetch you. 1607Dekker Westw. Hoe! ii. ii, Earl. Ha! Bird. O, I thought I should fetch you. 1708S. Centlivre Busie Body i. i. Wks. 1872 II. 64 If thou'rt in Love with two hundred, Gold will fetch 'em. 1819L. Hunt Indicator No. 2 (1822) I. 10 A venerable piece of earthenware..will fetch his imagination more than ever it fetched potter. 1882Besant All Sorts xxx, You shall..come on dressed in a pink costoom, which generally fetches at an entertainment. 1886J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts (1889) 109 To say that the child has got its father's nose..fetches the parents. 1931A. Huxley Let. 25 Sept. (1969) 355 Another sign of his cleverness was the exploiting of the psycho⁓analytical rigmarole, which will fetch 100's of earnest imbeciles. 1957R. Hoggart Auden 36 Jazz enthusiasts say that a solo performer ‘fetches’ them.
†5.
a. To go and receive; to obtain, get (an object of pursuit); to ‘come by’ (one's death). Obs.
a1200Moral Ode 222 Ich elches worldes wele þer me mahte feche. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 187 Manie mannisshe folgeden ure drihte..sume to fechen at him here hele. c1205Lay. 6460 Þiðerward wende þe king..to-ward þon deore þer he dæð fæhte [c 1275 featte]. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 396 Þou schal seche me þi-self..& foch þe such wages As þou deles me to day. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 169 If þe deuel help To folwen after þe [Dunmow] flicche, fecche þei it neuere. 1489–90Plumpton Corr. (1839) 91 Fech your pardon and my ladyes. a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 179 Christ sent this man unto the priest to fetch there his absolution. 1656Waller Panegyric to Cromwell iv, The seat of empire, where the Irish come..to fetch their doom.
b. colloq. To obtain, ‘take out’ (a court summons, etc.) against a person. Also to fetch law of: to bring an action against.
1832Examiner 412/2 They were better pleased at what they had done than if they had ‘fetched law’ of him.
c. Cricket. To score (a certain number of runs). ? Obs.
1735in H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores (1899) 11 The Londoners went in first and fetched 95. c1806in Daily Chron. (1906) 12 July 4/7 ‘On Thursday’ (a hundred years ago)..‘Hambledon fetched 144 and Winchester 107 runs.’ 1906A. E. Knight Compl. Cricketer 345 Fetch is an almost obsolete word for ‘score’.
6. a. To draw, derive, ‘borrow’ from a source, esp. from one more or less remote. Const. from or out of. Now rare.
1552Huloet, Fetche out of boke, depromere. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 72 Italie now, is not..so fitte a place..for yong men..to fetch either wisedome or honestie from thence. 1591G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (Hakluyt Soc.) 8 The right [river] Ocka..fetcheth his head from the borders of the Chrim. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. ii. 21, I fetch my life and being, From Men of Royall Seige. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 277 A..fashion..fetched from the French. 1651R. Child in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 11, I desire not to fetch Causes afar off, and to tell you of the sad Conjunctions of Mars and Saturn. 1655Culpepper Riverius xiii. i. 363 The Cure of this Disease..you must fetch..from the Chapter treating thereof. 1712Addison Spect. No. 321 ⁋13 He fetched this beautiful Circumstance from the Iliad. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) v. Concl., To fetch a parallel case out of Roman history. 1871R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 37 A so-called ‘equivalent’ for concrete fact..has..been fetched out of actual existence.
†b. To derive as from a cause or origin; to infer (an argument, conclusion). Obs.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 27 The thirde difference is fetched from their tast or sauor. 1625Burges Pers. Tithes 2 Nor to fetch any Argument from that Tenet to proue the point in hand. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. iii. §3 That they were the more Eastern Chaldæans..Scaliger..fetcheth from the signification of the word. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. ix. 20 From the indignation [of the Pylorus] he fetches the cause of the Palsie. 1691Ray Creation (1701) 251 Some fetch an Argument of Providence from the variety of Lineaments in the Faces of Men.
†c. To deduce (the origin of); to derive (a pedigree, etc.). to fetch far or fetch higher: to find a distant or higher origin for. Also absol. Obs.
1553Bale Vocacyon in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 355 To fatch this thinge from the first foundacion. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 4 b, As farre as I can fetche my petigree, all my Auncestours were occupiers of husbandry. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 99 b, By the example of Lysimachus..Yea, and without fetching so farre, wee see [etc.]. 1635N. R. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. 113 Touching this Rebellion (to fetch the matter a little higher). 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. i. §11 Many great Families..fetched their pedegree from the Gods.
†d. To derive (a word) etymologically. Obs.
1605R. Carew in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 100 Some [words] are directlie fetched from the latine. 1605Camden Rem. (1637) 75, I rather would fetch Hoel from Hælius. 1680Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 43 The more Iudicious fetch their Name from the Bay..called by Mela, Sinus Codanus.
7. a. To draw, get, take (breath, † a breathing); now rare. Hence by extension, To heave (a sigh); to utter (a groan, scream); to drain (a draught).
1552Huloet, Fetche breath or winde, prospiro. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Asthma, a disease, when..a man can hardely fetch his breathe. 1580Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 276 Damœtas..had fetched many a sower breathed sigh. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 293 The Horse will..fetch his breath short. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 106 The sicke woman..(fetching a deepe sigh) return'd her this answer. 1691G. Emilianne Observations 248 They drink in good earnest, and fetch the greatest Draughts they can. 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 53 Fetching such dreadful Groans. 1735G. Lyttelton Lett. fr. a Persian (1744) 132 She fetched a Scream. 1748J. Mason Elocut. 24 You are not to fetch your Breath..till you come to the Period. 1802T. Beddoes Hygëia vii. 62 The child..was still fetching deep sobs. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xxii, ‘Very good’, said Mr. Tappertit, fetching a long breath. 1875Howells Foregone Concl. 145 The young girl..fetched a long sigh.
b. absol. (See quot.)
1855Robinson Whitby Gloss., To Fetch, painfully to draw in the breath.
8. a. To deal, strike (a blow); to make (a stroke). Now chiefly colloq. † to fetch a fetch: to try a stratagem.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1157 No-þyng myȝt me dere To fech me bur & take me halte. 1559Mirr. Mag., Jas. I Scotl. iii, He false traytour..To get the crowne, began to fetch a fetch. 1611Bible Deut. xix. 5 His hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe. 1664E. Bushnell Compl. Shipwright 68 To fetch a stroake with the Oares. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 72 Apollyon was fetching of his last blow. 1865Punch XLIX. 228 Fetch 'im [a donkey] a good whack 'ith your rumbereller! 1888Sheffield Gloss. s.v., I'll fetch thee a nope [knock].
b. Hence, To ‘have at’, reach, strike (a person).
1556J. Heywood Spider & F. lvii. Bb j b, Vew yonder copweb castell..Behold..How thordinance lieth: flies fer and nere to fach. 1608Shakes. Per. ii. i. 17 I'll fetch thee with a wannion. 1625Bacon Ess., Vicissitude (Arb.) 575 The Conditions of Weapons, and their Improuement are; First, the Fetching a farre of. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. 37, I could throw a rock here without hitting a captain... You'd fetch the captain of the watch, maybe. 1870― Curious Republic Gondour (1919) 45 And fetch me with the butt-end of the gun.
9. a. To make or perform (a movement); to take (a walk, run, leap, etc.). Of a river: To make (a turn, winding, etc.). Obs. exc. arch.
1530Palsgr. 548/2, I fetche a gambolde or a fryske in daunsyng. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 73 Colts, Fetching mad bounds. 1601Holland Pliny I. 108 The riuer..fetcheth such windings to and fro. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. iii. i, She..did fetch so still a sleep. 1632Lithgow Trav. v. 205, I would often fetch a walke, to stretch my legs. 1669Dryden Tyrannic Love iv. ii, Some faint Pilgrim..resolv'd to fetch his leap..Runs to the Bank. 1700Congreve Way of World iv. iv, If so be that I might not be troublesome, I would have fought a walk with you. 1758Mrs. Delany Autobiog. (1861) III. 508 According to the country phrase, yesterday Sally and I ‘fetched a charming walk’. 1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 213 The River fetches a large Winding. 1762Sterne Tr. Shandy V. xxix, Suddenly..he fetched a gambol upon one foot. 1795Jemima I. 105 They are all..gone to fetch an airing. 1829Southey Corr. with C. Bowles (1881) 181, I shall..in vulgar English, fetch a walk. 1859Thackeray Virgin. (1879) I. 364 Mr. Warrington..was gone to fetch a walk in the moonlight. a1910‘Mark Twain’ Autobiogr. (1924) I. 237 A brook that never goes straight for a minute..sometimes fetching a horse-shoe three quarters of a mile around.
b. Phrases. † to fetch one's birr, course, feeze (see birr n. 2, course n. 11, feeze n. 1 b); to fetch a circuit: see circuit n. 3 d; to fetch a compass: see compass n. 11 d; to fetch the farm: see farm n.2 8.
1535[see compass n. 11 d]. 1547J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes 213 As one that intendeth to make a greate lepe, I muste..ronne back to fetche my course. 1547,1551[see circuit n. 3 d]. 1552Huloet, Fetche a compasse in speakinge, ambagio. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. 111, A long-winged hawk..mounts aloft and..fetcheth many a circuit in the air. 1653Milton Hirelings Wks. (1851) 384 Train'd up..by the Scripture..without fetching the compass of other Arts and Sciences. 1722De Foe Plague (1754) 147 Leaving Stepney, they fetched a long Compass. Ibid. 16 My Brother..fetch'd a Round farther into Buckinghamshire. 1814Scott Wav. lxii, He fetched a large circuit..avoiding the hamlet. 1837,a1847[see compass n. 11 d]. 1859Tennent Ceylon II. viii. iv. 350 It is..necessary to fetch a circuit of many miles. 1883Century Mag. XXVI. 907/1 He had fetched a compass of the whole [isle].
10. Naut. (see also branch II).
a. To arrive at, come to, reach; to come up with (a vessel).
1556W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 98 It was the 14 day of October before we could fetch Dartmouth. 1693Lond. Gaz. No. 2888/3 After the Enemy had fetched them [ships]. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. ii. 129 The Gloucester..spent a month in her endeavours to fetch the bay. 1795Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 13 We could have fetched the Sans Culotte. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. viii, You'll not fetch the bridges this tide. 1880Mrs. Parr Adam & Eve v. 69 A poor nigger-black, who never fetched the shore alive.
transf. and fig.1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 212, I know that..ye intend to fetch heaven..and to take it with the wind on your face. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 137 If Earth industrious of her self fetch Day Travelling East. 1898H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 178 We fetched Chisolm's house just a little before sundown. 1930T. E. Lawrence Let. 25 Feb. (1938) 682 Now-a-days I'm lucky to fetch London once in three months.
b. To get into (the wake of a vessel); to get into the course or current of (the wind). ? Obs.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 239 Outward they touch to take in fresh water, and fetch the wind. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 19 The Chase is about, come fetch her wack. 1671R. Bohun Wind 90 They should make a circuit without the Tropicks, to fetch their Western Winds. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. viii. 377 Little more than a league distant from the galeon, and could fetch her wake.
c. to fetch headway or fetch sternway: ‘said of a vessel gathering motion ahead or astern’ (Adm. Smyth).
d. to fetch way: to move or shift (from the proper place); to break loose. Cf. 13.
1670Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 113 My Main-mast..fetched such Way. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), The mast fetches way. 1800Naval Chron. IV. 55 A shot has fetched way in the gun. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xxiii, The upper part of the cargo fetched way a little, for it was loosely stowed. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To fetch way: said of a gun or anything which escapes from its place by the vessel's motion at sea.
e. intr. To take a course; to reach a specified position, bring one's vessel up.
1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. iii. 256 The Persian fleet and men of war..Have fetched about the Indian continent. 1669Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 8 Two points of land by which a man may fetch into any part of the Bay. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1811 We stood over to Cape Elizabeth, under which we fetched at about five in the afternoon. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xiii, He..tacked in shore, and fetched well to windward of the low point. 1839― Phant. Ship xix, The Dort..tacked, and fetched alongside of the frigate. 1883J. D. J. Kelly in Harper's Mag. Aug. 447/2 A boat..with ability to fetch to windward.
† f. to fetch of, upon: to gain upon. Obs.
1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 312 Our ships..fetching abundantly of them. 1693Lond. Gaz. No. 2888/2 The Admiral..of the Blue..fetching very fast upon us.
II. Idiomatically combined with advs. (For non-specialized comb., see the simple senses and the advs.)
†11. fetch about.
a. trans. In sense 9, 9 b, to fetch about a compass, to fetch a way about. Hence with ellipsis of object: To take a roundabout course or method. † Also refl. in same sense.
1551Robinson More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 72 Which fetcheth about a circuite or compasse of v.c. miles. c1585R. Browne Answ. Cartwright 6 What neede hee haue fetched about and made suche adoo. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 24 Like a shifted winde vnto a saile, It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. i, You fetch about well, but lets talke in present. 1625Bacon Ess., Cunning (Arb.) 441 It is strange, how..farre about they will fetch. 1650W. Brough Sacr. Princ. (1659) 551 Tacking and fetching yourselves about as the wind serves. 1825Mrs. Sherwood Young Forester in Houlston Tracts I. ii. 5 Fetching a way about, in order that his brothers might not trace his steps.
b. To swing round (the arm, a weapon) so as to gather impetus for a stroke. Also intr. for refl.
1609Bible (Douay) 1 Kings xvii. 49 Fetching it [the sling] about [he] stroke the Philistian in the forehead. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 122 To gather strength enough (as the arm does by fetching about).
†c. To contrive, devise, plan. Obs.
1611Bible 2 Sam. xiv. 20 To fetch about this forme of speech. 1667H. More Div. Dial. i. xxvii. (1713) 56 This is cunningly fetch'd about.
12. fetch again.
†a. trans. To take or get back; to recoup, make good. Obs.
1535Coverdale 2 Sam. viii. 3 He wente to fetch his power agayne. 1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 917 When God had fetcht againe all the life which he had given. 1617Hieron Wks. (1619–20) II. 251 To fetch againe those losses which he hath receyued.
†b. To revive, restore to consciousness. Obs.
1601Bp. W. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 49 To fetch her againe. 1626Bacon Sylva §694 (1627) 174 For smells, wee see their great and sudden Effect in fetching Men again, when they swoune. 1669Bunyan Holy Citie 252 Revivings, that, (like Aquavitæ) do fetch again, and chear up the soul.
13. fetch away. intr. To move or shift from its proper place; to get loose. Cf. 10 d.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Chock, a..wedge used to confine a cask..to prevent it from fetching away when the ship is in motion. 1808Sporting Mag. XXX. 123 We fetch away, and are tossed to the farthest side of the cabin. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xx. (1856) 152 Even anchors and quarter-boats, have ‘fetched away’. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xxi. 182 Every..article on the breakfast table fetching away with a hideous crash.
14. fetch down. trans. = bring down (bring v. 18), but more colloquial and expressive of vigorous action.
a. To bring to the ground by a shot or a blow.
b. To force down (prices, etc.).
1705W. Bosman Guinea (1721) 298 This vast Number of Shot..were not sufficient to fetch him [Elephant] down. 1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 155, I levell'd all at Hamet, and..had the good Fortune to fetch him down. 1801Windham Sp. (1812) II. 30 There were but few whom they were able to fetch down at a blow. 1841R. B. Peake Court & City i. iii, The late war has fetched down the price of women. 1879R. H. Elliot Written on Foreheads I. 7 Fetching down the young rooks from the tree tops.
15. fetch in.
†a. trans. To gain for an adherent. Obs.
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 248 All the powers and craft of hell cannot fetch him in for a customer to evill. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 13 Like artifices were used to fetch in the rest.
†b. To close in upon, surround; to enclose, take in. Also to include (in one's voyage).
1563Golding Cæsar (1565) 68 They fetched in on euery syde and slew those that stoode in good hope..of wynning theyr Campe. 1594Blundevil Exerc. v. (ed. 7) 565 He..turning to the South, did fetch in all the Sea-Coasts untill he came to Capo Razo. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 65 A cage of Iron..so high that it fetcheth in a world of Laurel.
†c. To ‘take in’; cheat. Obs.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 242 They were all fethered of one winge to fetch in young gentlemen. 1612Rowlands More Knaues Yet? 33 Who will be drawne at Dice and Cards to play..And be fetch'd in for all that's in his purse?
16. fetch off.
†a. To bring out of a difficulty; to deliver, rescue. Cf. bring off. Obs.
1648W. Jenkyn Blind Guide i. 16 This hereticall and rediculous soul fetcheth off himself thus. 1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low-C. Warres iii. 62 The whole Market-place..strove to fetch off the prisoners.
†b. To ‘do’ or ‘do for’; to get the better of; to make an end of. Obs.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 324 As I returne, I will fetch off these Iustices. 1613Notorious Cousnages of J. & A. West vi, She hath fetcht off Usurers and Misers, as finely as they fetch off young heires. 1618in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 423 My Lord of Essex was fetcht off by a trick. 1633Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. lxxvii. 190 What fine devises..to fetch off lives. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. iii. xi. (1712) 122 We may add a third [Question], which may haply fetch off the other two.
†c. To drain, drink off (a draught). Cf. 7. Obs.
1657W. Rand tr. Gassendi's Life of Peiresc ii. 99 He fetcht off the Lusty Bowle of wine. Ibid. ii. 137 Novellius Torquatus..is reported to have fetcht off at one draught..three Congii or Roman Gallons of wine.
17. fetch out. To draw forth; to bring into clearness; to develop and display.
1644Milton Educ., These ways..if there were any Secret excellence among them would fetch it out. 1711Addison Spect. No. 215 ⁋1 Marble..shews none of its inherent Beauties, till the Skill of the Polisher fetches out the Colours. 1847L. Hunt Jar Honey x. (1848) 134 It fetches out..the most beautiful strength of the human heart.
18. fetch over.
†a. trans. To succeed in delivering (a blow). Obs.
a1640J. Ball Answ. to Can i. (1642) 119 He might fetch over a sure blow upon us.
†b. To get the better of. Obs.
c1600Day Begg. Bednall Gr. ii. ii. (1881) 35 'Tis he that I fetch'd over for the sattin suite and left him in pawn for the reckoning. 1680R. L'Estrange Colloq. Erasm. 199 They have fetch'd me over many and many a time.
†c. To go over; to repeat. Obs.
1642Rogers Naaman 606 What might be the cause why Isaac fetcht over the blessing the second time.
19. fetch round (or around). intr. To recover, to regain consciousness. Also trans.
1870G. Meredith Let. ? Sept. (1970) I. 426 This salt-water fetches me round, Tuck. It's the next best to mountain air. 1874Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. ii. 21, I do hope Daisy [sc. a cow] will fetch round again now. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Connecticut Yankee 135 You feel strange, like somebody that has been struck by lightning and hasn't quite fetched around yet, and can't just get his bearings.
20. fetch through. intr. To win through.
1912R. F. Scott Jrnl. 16–17 Mar. in Last Exped. (1913) I. 593 Though we constantly talk of fetching through, I don't think any one of us believes it in his heart.
21. fetch up.
†a. trans. To bring to a higher level or position; to elevate, raise. Obs.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xv. 35 The strong wing'd Mercury should fetch thee vp, And set thee by Ioves side. 1607–12Bacon Ess., Seeming Wise (Arb.) 216 Hee fetched one of his browes vp to his forehead. 1705Addison Italy (J.), Any of those arts..may be fetched up to its perfection in ten..years. 1711― Spect. No. 119 ⁋3 They have..fetched themselves up to the Fashion of the polite World.
b. To vomit. Also of a medicine, etc.: To promote expectoration of. Cf. bring up.
1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner N iij b, Butter..fetcheth up fleame cloddered about the breast and lungs. 1622Massinger Virg. Mart. v. i, Fetch up What thou hast swallowed.
c. To recall (to the mind); to bring to light.
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 454 To fetch up olde wordes from forgetfulnesse. 1817Chalmers Astron. Disc. iv. (1852) 93 The knowledge..he cannot fetch up himself from the obscurity of this wondrous..scene.
†d. To rouse or stir up (a horse). Obs.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Equus, To fetch vp with the spurre. 1573in Baret Alv. F 401.
†e. To overthrow, ‘trip up’. Obs.
1615T. Adams Spir. Nauig. 43 The strongest Sampson has been fetched up by this wrastler.
f. To make up (lee way, lost ground, time, etc.).
1665J. Wilson Projectors i. Dram. Wks. (1874) 227, I shall have the custody of the parish stock. If that will serve you, command it; we shall be able, I hope, to fetch it up again before my time be out. 1709Stanhope Paraphr. IV. 122 Penitents..will..fetch up the Time they have lost. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 122 Mrs. Jewkes lies snoring in bed, fetching up her last night's disturbance. 1794T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 112 The time is coming when we shall fetch up the lee-way of our vessel. 1825Thomas Brown in Houlston Tracts I. xvi. 3 Thomas did not mind playing a day or two in the week, for..he knew he could easily fetch it up again. 1846Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 686 [They] have much lee way to fetch up.
†g. To come up with, overtake. Obs.
a1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 179 Being out of hope to fetch up this shippe. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 14 The Moon must go longer 2 days..before she can fetch up the Sun, to come into Conjunction with her. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables cxxxiii, Says he [the Hare], I can fetch up the Tortoise when I please. 1751R. Paltock P. Wilkins I. v. 45 We fetched her up, and..fired a shot.
h. Naut. To come or get to (a place); to reach; to come in sight of; (also to fetch up the sight of) to sail along. ? Obs.
1556W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 108 It is hard to fetch upp a towne here if a shippe ouer shoote it. 1632Lithgow Trav. iii. 96 As we fetched up the sight of Nicasia. Ibid. v. 181 We fetched up the coast of Cylicia. Ibid. ix. 398 We fetched up the little Ile of Strombolo.
i. intr. for refl. To come to a stand; to ‘pull up’; to stop. Also trans.
1838J. C. Neal Charcoal Sks. 96, I was soon fetch'd up in the victualling line—and I busted for the benefit of my creditors. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer., To fetch up, to stop suddenly... We often hear the phrase ‘He fetched up all standing’ that is, he made a sudden halt. It is a nautical vulgarism. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. V. 705 When in quest of any particular point, are likely enough to fetch up at some other. 1859‘N. Hogg’ Poet. Lett. (1865) 44 Wul tha nex thing thay dood was ta holler out ‘Dress!’.. Wat thay main'd wis ta vetch up a little bit zmurt. 1883W. Whitman Specimen Days 139, I made quite a western journey, fetching up at Denver, Colorado. 1890G. W. Perrie Buckskin Mose ii. 25 Waukegan was designated as the place where he might probably fetch up. 1898E. N. Westcott David Harum 175, I..walked alongside the el'phant..till they fetched up inside the tent. 1902Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 186/2 Before he could more than grab at the rein lying loosely on the pommel, the filly ‘fetched up’ against a dead box-tree, hard as cast-iron. 1906Springfield Weekly Republ. 11 Oct. 1 If he tries often enough he may fetch up in Congress. 1956A. L. Rowse Early Churchills xviii. 391 Some of her business correspondence..has fetched up on the other side of the Atlantic. 1971Listener 8 Apr. 449/3, I grew used to bummelling around the Bond Street dealers and fetching up for tea at the National Gallery or the Tate.
j. To bring up, rear, or train (children.) U.S.
1841Knickerbocker XVII. 156 Harry Cott says he was ‘fetched up’ on Long-Island. 1869Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xx. 237, I was fetchin' on her up to work for her livin' as I was fetched up. 1890S. O. Jewett Strangers & Wayfarers 205 We've gone and fetched ye up the best we could. |