| 释义 |
▪ I. † fledge, n.1 Obs.
Also 6 flege.
App. the designation of some textile material. Also attrib.
1542Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 2 in Stat. Irel. (1621) 185 Hydes, fells, checkers, fleges, yarne, linnen, cloth, wooll and flockes. 1579Richmond Wills (Surtees) 287 Vj cotton blankets, ij fledg blankets, ij caddow blankets.
▪ II. fledge, n.2|flɛdʒ|
[f. fledge v. (sense 4).]
A feather- or down-like covering.
1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow iv. 102 He now had a thick fledge on his upper lip, a black, finely-shaped line. 1923― Birds, Beasts & Flowers 44 The deep, soft fledge of Sicilian winter-green.
▪ III. † fledge, a. Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 4–7 flegge, 6 fledg, 5–6 flygge, 6 flydge, 6–7 flidge, flig(ge, fleg, 6– fledge.
[OE. *flycᵹe (in Kentish form *flecᵹe), not found exc. in the compound unfliᵹᵹe, rendering L. inplumes in Avianus Glosses a 1100 (see Napier in Academy 2 June 1894); corresponding to MDu. vlugge (Du. vlug), MHG. vlücke, OHG. flucchi (Ger. flügge, a LG. form for HG. flücke):—WGer. *fluggjo-, f. *flug- weak root of *fleugan to fly.]
1. Of young birds (rarely of the wings): Fit to fly; having the feathers fully developed, fledged.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. iii. (1495) 411 They take fro them meete whan they ben flegge and rype. 14..Piers of Fullham in Hartshorne Metr. Rom. 124 Which causeth them to be taake or they be flegge. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 133 Byrdes full flygge. 1593Peele Chron. Edw. I 180 If his wings grow flig, they may be clipt. 1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 698 Some douny-clad, some (fledger) take a twig To pearch-upon. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables lxxii. 71 The Birds were not as yet Fledge enough to Shift for Themselves. 1706in Phillips (ed. Kersey), Fledge or Fledged. 1820Wilbraham Chesh. Gloss., Flig or Fligge.
transf. and fig.1566Drant Horace To Rdr. 2 Natheles such vices as were then flydge..he assaileth fearcely. 1623T. Scot Highw. God 64 As soone as he is fligge, and comes fresh out of the Vniuersitie. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Death iii, The shells of fledge souls left behinde. 1662Tuke Adv. 5 Hours iii. i, Your noble Love has Wings, And's ever Fledge.
2. Furnished for flight. Const. with. Also fig.
1631Milton in Birch Life Wks. 1738 I. 4 All the fond hopes, which forward Youth and Vanitie are fledge with. 1667― P.L. iii. 627 His shoulders, fledge with wings. 1806J. Grahame Birds Scotl. i. 4 Like an arrow-fledge he darts. 1814Cary Dante, Hell xiii. 16 The huge belly fledge with wings.
3. fig. All in a flutter, high-spirited.
1461M. Paston in Paston Lett. I. 544 He and alle his olde felaweship..arn ryght flygge and mery. 1642Rogers Naaman 350 Haue not your recoveries made you more fledge and sawcy with God?
Hence † fledgeness. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 167/1 Flygnesse, maturitas. 1530Palsgr. 221/1 Flyggenesse of byrdes, plumeuseté.
▪ IV. fledge, v.|flɛdʒ|
Also 6–7 flidge, 9 dial. fleg, flig.
[f. prec.]
1. intr. Of a young bird: To acquire feathers large enough for flight; to become fully plumed. Also fig.
1566Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 72 When the wheate was ready to be ripped her yonge began to fledge. 1637Greene's Theeves falling out Pref., In Westminster..doe they every day build their nests, every houre flidge. 1865Swinburne Poems & Ballads, Felise 69 Birds quick to fledge and fly at call Are quick to fall.
2. trans. To bring up (a young bird) until its feathers are grown and it is able to fly. Also fig.
1589Pappe w. Hatchet C b, They [the Martins] both breed in Churches, and hauing fledgde their young ones, leaue nothing behind them but durt. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 32 Shylocke for his own part knew the bird was fledg'd. 1623Webster Duchess Malfy iii. v, Your wiser buntings, Now they are fledg'd, are gone. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea Ded. A v b, This Book..was hatched and flidged in one of your ships. 1760Fawkes Anacreon xxxiii. 15 Some, quite fledg'd and fully grown, Nurse the Younglings as their own.
3. To provide or furnish with feathers or plumage; to ‘wing’ for flight; also, to deck or adorn with feathers.
1614C. Brooke Eglogues, To W. Browne 21 Whose tender Pinions, scarcely fledg'd in show, Could make his way with whitest Swans in Poe. 1725Pope Odyss. i. 125 The sandals of celestial mould, Fledged with ambrosial plumes. 1784Cowper Task iv. 214 The world's time..has his pinions fledg'd With motley plumes.
fig.1847Tennyson Princ. iv. 19 Lightlier move The minutes fledged with music.
4. To cover as with feathers or down; also, to form a feather-like covering for.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 23 The Iuuenall (the Prince your Master) whose Chin is not yet fledg'd. 1773Poetry in Ann. Reg. 235 Then talks of sport; how many wild ducks seen! What flocks of widgeon too hath fledg'd the green! 1784Cowper Task v. 26 The bents And coarser grass..now..fledged with icy feathers, nod superb. 1814Cary Dante, Paradise ix. 96 The unripen'd down That fledged my cheek. 1820Keats Ode to Psyche 55 Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep. 1888Lowell Recall in Heartsease & Rue 91 Though snowflakes fledge the summer's nest.
5. To fit (an arrow) with a feather; to feather. Cf. fletch v.
1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 596 Eagles' feathers to fledge arrows with. 1808Moore Corruption v. 96 Like a young eagle, who has lent his plume To fledge the shaft by which he meets his doom. 1871Rossetti Poems, Troy Town xiii, Cupid took another dart, Fledged it for another heart.
Hence fledged ppl. a., lit. and fig.; sometimes in combinations as full-fledged, half-fledged, new-fledged; ˈfledging vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1579E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Ep. Ded., You may perceiue he was..full fledged. a1616Beaum. & Fl. Laws Candy i. ii, That yong-man, who was not fledg'd nor skil'd In Martiall play. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 98 This may pull down..your flidged plumes. 1774White in Phil. Trans. LXV. 268, I..found they had made very little progress towards a fledged state. 1806J. Grahame Birds Scotl. 35 The parent's partial eye Shall view the fledging wing. 1833Whewell Astron. & Gen. Physics i. 32 The..hatching, fledging, and flight of birds. 1865Swinburne Poems & Ball., Love at Sea 17 Our seamen are fledged Loves. 1887Sat. Rev. 12 Nov. 661 Such denials merely serve to mark the fact that thought is already fluttering, though it is not yet full fledged. |