| 释义 |
ˈfly-catcher
[f. fly n.1 + catcher.]
1. a. One who catches flies. b. A contrivance for catching flies.
a.1600Cornwallyes Ess. xix, To be of Domitians sect, a Fly-catcher. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables cclviii. 225 The Swallow was a Fly-Catcher as well as the Spider. 1887Pall Mall G. 5 Nov. 2/2 ‘The fly-catcher’, as he [Darwin] was known to the crew, was a prime favourite.
fig.1708Motteux Rabelais v. xv. (1737) 61 Ye scurvy Fly-catchers you! [i.e. lawyers]. 1889Daily News 5 Feb. 5/3 The quidnuncs and flycatchers.
b.1848Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 6. 321 This implement is much used in Cornwall, where it is called the ‘fly-catcher’. 1855A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-ho. vi. 91 After Tea..my Mother began to snip a Fly-catcher.
2. A bird that catches flies; in England, usually one of the genus Muscicapa, esp. M. grisola; in America, usually one of the genus Tyrannus, T. Carolinensis or T. pipiri.
1678Ray Ornith. 158 Muscicapa, the flycatcher. 1777G. Forster Voy. round World II. 358 Several sorts of pigeons, parroquets, and fly-catchers. 1833Selby in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. i. 20 The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola). 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. x. (1852) 137 The plaintive note of a white-tufted tyrant-flycatcher. 1869W. P. Turnbull Birds E. Pennsylv. 21 Least Flycatcher, Empidonax minimus. 1882Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 440 The rare pied flycatcher (Muscicapa atricapilla).
3. a. A spider that catches flies. b. A plant that catches flies; = fly-trap 2.
1750G. Hughes Barbadoes 91 The Fly-Catcher..is of the Spider-kind. 1863Kingsley Water-Bab. 13 A spring..which soaks up..in the bog, among red fly-catchers. c1865Ld. Brougham in Circ. Sc. I. Introd. Disc. 22 The Muscipula, Fly-trap, or Fly-catcher..has small prickles in the inside of two leaves.
4. In the war of 1914–18, a fast type of aeroplane. colloq.
1924Glasgow Herald 28 July 9 The royal yacht had three ‘fly-catchers’. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words, Fly-catchers, a fast type of aeroplane, officially rated as ‘Fleet Fighters’. 1928Times 23 Mar. 19/2 They were engaged in turn by the ‘Flycatchers’ from the Furious. |