| 释义 |
trenchant, a. (n.)|ˈtrɛn(t)ʃənt|
Also 4–5 trenchaunt, (5 -aunte), -ande, (5 Sc. trensand, 6 trenchand, 7 trencheant, trinchante); see also tranchant.
[a. OF. trenchant (mod.F. tranchant), pr. pple. of † trenchier, trancher to cut: see trench v. and -ant.]
1. Cutting, adapted for cutting; having a keen edge, sharp; † sharp-pointed (obs.). arch. and poet.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4414 Nemny on þe heued he smot; Hit was trenchaunt, ouer fer hit bot. c1380Sir Ferumb. 537 Ich hem wolde wel conquere wiþ my swerd trenchaunt. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 47 This monstre..hadde ij hornes trenchant on his forhede. c1470Henry Wallace iv. 662 The trensand blaid to-persyt euirydeill. c1477Caxton Jason 8 b, Jason smote another Centaure in the nekke with a trenchaunt arowe. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 17 He..with his trenchand blade her boldly kept From turning backe. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 359 The trenchant Blade, Toledo trusty, For want of fighting was grown rusty. a1774Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 236 The thin or trenchant end [of the wedge] is applied to the timber to be cleft, and the thick end struck upon by an hammer. 1830Tennyson ‘Clear-headed friend’ ii, Nor martyr-flames, nor trenchant swords Can do away that ancient lie.
b. Zool. Of a tooth, bill, etc.: Having a cutting edge; sectorial.
1831McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. II. 136 In a fourth tribe [of fishes], the teeth are trenchant. It comprises two genera, Boops and Oblada. 1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 312/2 Trenchant bills which are..flattened horizontally. 1881Mivart Cat 29 The lower molar..having a more completely trenchant form than any other tooth.
c. transf., or in fig. or allusive use.
1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 30 Whose blood..now Trenchant Mars hath shed. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. vi. viii. (1849) 369 Pursuing its trenchant course, it severed off a deep coat pocket. 1851Gladstone Glean. VI. lix. 39 Must it not be dangerous to place weapons so keen and trenchant in the hands of raw recruits? 1865Trav. by ‘Umbra’ 10 Carve the impalpable and viewless air with thy trenchant paper knife. 1871Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. v. 117 The biographer of Edward [III], Mr. Longman, cannot wield the trenchant weapons of Lord Brougham.
2. fig. esp. of language: Incisive; vigorous and clear; effective, energetic.
a1325[implied in trenchantly]. 1663Butler Hud. i. iii. 882 Their Swords Were sharp and trencheant, not their Words. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 208 Some trenchant repartee, that cuts off the poor answer's head like a razor. 1842― in L Estrange Life (1870) III. ix. 159 The most trenchant and violent writer of the ‘Times’. 1877Owen Wellesley's Desp. p. xxxvi, For all these evils..Wellesley devised prompt and trenchant remedies, most unpalatable to his employers.
3. transf. and fig. Sharply defined or outlined; clear-cut; distinct.
1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps iii. §14. 78 The use of the dark mass characterises, generally, a trenchant style of design. 1852Dana Crust. ii. 745 This subtribe has trenchant limits. 1873H. Rogers Orig. Bible ii. 78 The line of demarcation is seemingly most sharp and trenchant.
¶4. erron. Capable of being cut.
1824Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Blakesmoor in H―shire, What herald shall go about to strip me of an idea? Is it trenchant to their swords?
†B. n. One who or that which cuts or severs; a cutter, a divider. Obs. rare—1.
a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 133 A turne-coate of lawfull confederacie, a trinchante of holy union, a scandall and reproofe of all Christian pietie.
†b. esquire trenchant, an esquire carver; cf. esquire n.1 1 c and 5, quot. 1797. Obs.
1563Randolph in Calr. Scott. Pap. II. 3 A longe yonge man..one of her graces esquire trenchantes. [Cf.1611Cotgr., Trenchant, Escuyer,..valet trenchant, a Caruer.] |