释义 |
▪ I. grummet1 Obs. exc. Hist. and dial.|ˈgrʌmɪt| Forms: 3, 6–9 gromet, 6 groomet, 6, 8 grumet, 8 grummet. [a. OF. gromet, groumet, servant, valet, shop-boy, wine-merchant's assistant (see gourmet) = Sp. grumete ship's-boy. In Anglo-Latin documents down to the 16th c. the word grometus, a latinization of AF. gromet, is frequently used in the sense of groom. Whether there is any etymological connexion between F. gromet and Eng. groom is at present uncertain.] 1. A ship's boy; a cabin-boy; the boy required to form part of the crew of every ship formerly provided by the Cinque Ports.
[1229in Jeakes Charters Cinque Ports (1728) 25 note, Servicia inde debita Domino Regi, xxi naves, & in qualibet nave xxi homines, cum uno gartione qui dicitur gromet.] 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 110 Hasting shall finde 21. ships, in everie ship 21. men, and a garcion, or boye, which is called a gromet. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Grumete, a grumet of a ship, a ship boy. 1717tr. Frezier's Voy. S. Sea 198 Sixteen Grummets. 1763Sir S. T. Janssen Smuggling Laid Open 285 The Gromets is an Establishment which was formerly in the Navy; they are meant to be young Fellows of about Eighteen, who were never at Sea, to breed up as Seamen. 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 207 The average ship's company [in 13th c.] was twenty-four..a ‘rector’ or master, ‘constable’ or boatswain, twenty-one seamen, and a boy or ‘gromet’. 2. dial. ‘An awkward boy’ (Sussex Gloss. 1875).
1894Jackson Southward Ho I. 251 (E.D.D.), I knowed anuder pore chap, a grummut as had na wurk.
Restrict ‘Obs. exc. Hist.’ to sense 1 in Dict., delete ‘and dial.’ and add: Also 20 grommet, grommit. 3. A young surfer or skateboarder. colloq. (chiefly Austral.).
1986Sun (Melbourne) 10 Jan. 47/3 He took out the Wavelength-Quiksilver summer surf classic against a field of Australia's hottest grommets, in what was a victory for the world's veteran surfers. 1986Washington Post 7 Aug. 20/5 Snoids or punks, young skaters. Also known by some as ‘grommets’ or ‘skate rats’. 1986Wavelength Surfing II. xi. 50/1 If you want the city surf life of Sydney, sharing each wave with a hoard of surf-crazed young grommits, then Manly is definitely the place for you. 1989Independent 13 June 29 Their audience will range from the eight-year-old ‘grommet’ (lots of gear, no skill) to besotted teenagers. ▪ II. grummet2, grommet Chiefly Naut. and Mil.|ˈgrʌmɪt| Also 7 gromit, 8–9 -et. [ad. F. gromette (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), now gourmette curb of a bridle, f. gourmer to curb, of unknown origin.] 1. A ring or wreath of rope, spec. one consisting of a single strand laid three times round. a. One of those used to secure the upper edge of a sail to its stay. b. A ring of rope used as a substitute for a rowlock in a boat. (Also applied to an eyelet of metal serving the same purpose.) c. A wad for keeping the shot steady in the bore when firing at a depression. d. In other connexions: see quots.e. A washer used to insulate electric conductors passing through a hole in a conducting material. f. A stiffener used inside a Service cap. a.1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Sea-men 12 Grummets, and staples for all yeards. 1627― Seaman's Gram. v. 25 Caskets are..small ropes..made fast to the gromits or rings upon the yards. 1644H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict., Grommets are little rings which are made fast to the upper-side of the yard, with staples, which are driven into the yard; which have no other use but to tie and make fast the Casketts into them. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Bague, a small grommet, or wreath fixed in the eye-let hole in a sail. 1877W. Thomson Voy. Challenger I. ii. 114 Because our education has been sadly neglected in the matter of cringles and toggles and grummets. b.1802Trans. Soc. Arts XX. 289 With iron tholes and rope grommets. 1833Marryat P. Simple (1863) 249 The oars of the boats were fitted to pull with grummets upon iron thole-pins. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 46 Six-oared yawl..pulled with one thole-pin..and a grummet. c.1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner Notes 16 By discarding the pincers, and applying grummets or wood bottoms to the shells in lieu of them. 1861Times 7 June 5/3 The grummets fit the bore of the gun exactly and act as wads, allowing the base of the shell to rest in close contact with the charge. d.1775N. D. Falck Day's Diving Vessel 26 When I had taken my proper land-marks, I secured my sweep with a grummet. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xxi. 467 In order to prevent leakage through the bolt-holes, hempen grummets saturated with paint are placed between the nuts and the plating. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. viii. (ed. 2) 283 The ends of the whip should be made fast to the grummets on the sides of the life buoy. 1888Clark Russell Death Ship III. 244, I discovered a rope grummet or hempen hook fastened to the larboard horn. 1892Edin. Rev. Apr. 479 A thick grummet of rope round his loins. transf.1881Clark Russell Ocean Free Lance II. iv. 193 Round the horizon was stretched what sailors would call a ‘grummet’ of sooty vapour. e.1942Electronic Engin. XV. 303 The power cord should have been threaded through that grommet first. 1959B.S.I. News June 10/2 Tiny grommets for aircraft instruments. f.1953J. Masefield Conway (ed. 2) iii. 164 Next term, arriving back with no grommet in my cap as an ‘old hand’, and promptly being told to put it back. 1956W. A. Heflin U.S.A.F. Dict. 236/2 Grommet, a ring-like device of rubber, roll cloth, or metal used inside the top of the service cap to keep it tightly stretched. 2. attrib. and Comb.: grummet-hole, a hole bound by a ring of rope; grummet-iron, a toggle-iron (Cent. Dict.); grummet strop, a strop made like a grummet; grummet-wad (see quot.: = 1 c).
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xviii. 218 To run the tent-poles through *grummet-holes in the canvas.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 30 How do you make a *grummet strop?
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Grommet-wad, a ring made of 1½ or 2 inch rope, having attached to it two cross-pieces or diameters of the same material; it acts by the ends of these pieces biting on the interior of the bore of the gun.
Add:[1.] g. Surg. A small plastic tube inserted into a hole made in the eardrum, to enable excess fluid to drain from the middle ear and for ventilation.
1966Jrnl. Laryngol. & Otol. LXXX. 1048 Within recent years,..evidence has accumulated that the polythene grommet now in standard use..may prove..a most promising pointer in the correct direction. 1972K. Rotter Ear, Nose & Throat for Nurses (ed. 3) xvi. 121 The middle ear is then ventilated by means of a ‘grommet’, a small plastic dumb-bell-shaped tube which is inserted into the opening in the drum. 1989Collier & Longmore Oxf. Handbk. Clin. Specialties (ed. 2) vii. 538 If fluid persists for longer than 6 weeks myringotomy, suction of fluid, and insertion of grommets should be considered to keep the middle ear ventilated and restore hearing. 1990N. Williams Wimbledon Poisoner i. ii. 13 She was slapped down in front of him like a British Rail sandwich, garnished with a series of medical complaints. ‘She needs grommets!’ Elinor would squawk, pointing at her daughter. |