| 释义 |
four o'clock
1. (More fully four o'clock flower.) A name for the plant Mirabilis Jalapa or Marvel of Peru.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 166 Jalap or Four-o-clock-flower. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. 211 In the west Indian Islands, where it [Marvel of Peru] is very common, they call it four o'clock flower. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. iv, Here also..various brilliant annuals, such as marigolds, petunias, four-o'clocks, found an indulgent corner. 1882J. Smith Dict. Plants 269 Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis Jalapa)..This and M. longiflora are handsome garden plants, opening their pretty tube-like flowers..in the after⁓noon, hence called Four o'clock-flower.
2. The Australian friar-bird, Philemon corniculatus, so called from its cry.
1848J. Gould Birds Austral. IV. Descr. pl. 58, Tropidorhynchus Corniculatus. Friar Bird. From the fancied resemblance of its notes to those words, it has obtained from the Colonists the various names of..‘Four o'clock’, etc.
3. A seed-head of the dandelion. Cf. one o'clock.
1883Talmage in Chr. Globe 13 Sept. 819/1 The hand that had plucked four o'clocks in the meadow.
4. A light meal taken by workmen about four o'clock in the afternoon.
1825Jamieson Supp. s.v. Four-hours, A slight refreshment taken by workmen in Birmingham is called a four o'clock. 1841Hartshorne Salop. Antiq. 432 Four o'clock, a lunch or bait taken by labourers at this hour in the harvest. 1881Oxf. Gloss. Supp., Four o'clock, a tea in the hayfield. |