| 释义 |
▪ I. handy, n. north. dial.
[f. hand n.]
1. See quot. 1825.
1681Inv. in Biggar & Ho. of Fleming (1862) 62 Item to Andrew Murray ane Say a handy and a seck rindle. 1818Edin. Mag. Dec. 503 (Jam.), I flang the hannie frae me. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Handy, a small wooden vessel with an upright handle. 1847–78Halliwell, Handy, a piggin.
2. A hand-bier.
1909Daily Chron. 8 June 2/5 Hearses, Handys, Biers, &c. 1922Daily Mail 4 Nov. 10 The charges for licences on motor-hearses and handies.
▪ II. handy, a.|ˈhændɪ|
[In sense 1, app. developed from the first element in handiwork (q.v.), which was often written separately as handi, handie, handy, being app. taken as an adj. = ‘manual’, and so extended to other words, as labour, occupation, operation, art, and the like. In the later senses (after 1600), it appears to be a normal derivative of hand n. + -y. (Not directly connected with hendy.)]
†1.
a. Of, or done by, the hand: manual. Obs.[a1310in Wright Lyric P. xix. 60 Thin hondy werk nult thou lete. 1477Norton Ord. Alch. in Ashm. (1652) 49 But handie crafte called Arte Mechanicall. 1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 1077 A Temple of mans handy worke.] 1535Coverdale Haggai i. 11 Vpon men and vpon catell, yee and vpon all handy laboure. 1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. A iij, Thynges belongynge to handy operacyon. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 148 He is taken frome hys handy occupation. 1576Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 17 Tinkers, Carters, Tipplers, handy Artificers. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxvii. 146 He was punished by death as a private person, but not by handye execution. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Pref. Wks. (1653) 5 Chirurgia, or the Handy part of healing. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 150 Whose exercise was..handy labour, digging and filling vp againe their graues. 1713S. Sewall Diary 15 Sept. (1879) II. 398 Took the Churches Handy vote; Church sat in the Gallery.
†b. Wielded by the hand; hand to hand.
1586Warner Alb. Eng. ii. vii. (1612) 29 Then fettle they to handy Armes.
2. a. Ready to hand; near at hand; conveniently accessible or ready for use.
1650Fuller Pisgah i. 400 It was placed very handy, and convenient for such as went up to sacrifice. 1775Romans Hist. Florida App. 54, I..found mahogany growing so handy that I took in about 4000 feet of it in a very few days. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xx, Knocked down with the shovel or tongs, which ever came handiest. 1894R. Bridges Feast of Bacchus ii. 760, I happen to have it handy.
b. Phr. handy by, handy to: conveniently situated for. dial. and U.S. So handy for (general colloq.).
1825J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 133 I've hir'd 'twar handy ta tha zea. 1893‘O. Thanet’ Stories of Western Town 136 It is customary in the Lossing Building to say, ‘We are so handy to the cars.’ 1934H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. II. viii. 602 A miscellany of people came and went there and to lodgings handy-by the smaller house at Dymchurch. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 45 (Advt.), Not one street to cross to get to public school. Handy to shopping plaza. Beautiful view over park.
3. a. Convenient to handle or hold in the hand; easy to be manipulated, managed, or directed.
1694Moxon Mech. Exerc. 195 Use has made the Mawl more handy for them. 1776J. Q. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 382 The galleys first built..were too large to be handy. 1880Times 25 Dec. 7/4 The ship sails well..Steers well under all circumstances, and is very handy. 1897A. Lang in Bookman Jan. 115/2 The volume is delightfully handy, and the type excellent.
b. handy dog (see quots.). N.Z.
1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch) 25 Nov. 15/7 Some dogs will both head and huntaway and are called handy dogs. 1968N.Z. News 28 Aug. 16/1 A pack usually has several ‘huntaways’, a ‘heading’ dog and a ‘handy’ dog... The handy dog is generally versatile at all jobs.
4. Ready or clever with the hands; dexterous; able to turn the hand to anything.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 89 They are very handy, and easily imitate any thing they see done. 1790J. B. Moreton W. Indies 43 Two smart handy boys or girls. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 112 A man..of that peculiar universality of genius which forms, what is called in country phrase, a handy fellow. 1847De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun v. (1853) 9 She was a handy girl. She could turn her hand to anything. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. ix. 300 That strange ingenuity which makes an American the handiest of all human beings.
5. handy- in comb.
a. (from sense 1, or having the same origin): handy-blow: see hand-blow; handy-craft: see handicraft; † handy-fight, a hand-to-hand fight; † handy-frame, what is framed by the hands, handiwork; handy-grip(e: see handgrip; handystroke: see handstroke; † handythrift, what a man earns with his hands; handy-work: see handiwork; † handywright [repr. OE. *handᵹewyrhta], a worker with his hands, a mechanic.
b. (from senses 2–4): handy-billy (see quot.); handybook (nonce wd.) = handbook; handy-man, (a) a man of general utility, a man useful for all sorts of odd jobs; (b) a sailor; handy-sized a., of a convenient or suitable size.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Handy-Billy. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Handy-billy, a small jigger purchase, used particularly in tops or the holds, for assisting in hoisting when weak-handed. A watch-tackle. 1933J. Masefield Bird of Dawning 56 We handed up the handy billy, they made it fast to the davit-head.
1867Buchan (title) *Handy Book of Meteorology. 1888Athenæum 20 Oct. 522 (Cent.) Handbooks, or handybooks, may be designed or used in two different ways.
1601B. Jonson Poetaster v. i, Castor his horse, Pollux loves *handy-fights.
1597Middleton Wisd. Sol. Paraphr. xvi. 4 Say, is your god like this, whom you ador'd, Or is this god like to your *handy⁓frame?
1872Times 27 Aug. (Farmer), The result is he cannot be called a *handy-man. 1887N. & Q. 7th Ser. III. 514 Often heard among labourers, handy-men, and artizans. a1898Mod. Advertisem. Handy-man wanted, used to horses and cows and make himself generally useful. 1899H. Begbie Handy Man iii, And the babe sleeps sound in her cot o' nights, and the trader may plot and plan, For under the stars on the rolling deep stands the vigilant Handy Man. 1900People 1 Apr. (Ware), The handy man. High praise for the naval brigade.
1927Scots. Observer 19 Mar. 15/3 The need for a *handy-sized and attractive edition of the Gospels. 1961Times 7 Feb. 17/5 Few owners are building handy-sized tankers these days.
a1592Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 86 He should gette it with his *handy⁓thrift.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 193 Isaac Habrechtus that cunning *Handywright who made the Clock at Strasburgh.
▸ slang (now chiefly Brit.). Skilled at fighting, esp. with the fists.
1937J. Steinbeck Of Mice & Men 39 He done quite a bit in the ring. He's a lightweight, and he's handy. 1989Hobart (Tasmania) Mercury (Nexis) 22 July Boxing was in his blood—on both sides of his family. His dad was a handy pug in Hobart. 1997G. Williams Diamond Geezers xv. 95 Ron needed people who could be a bit handy, who could put it about a bit. 2000N. Hornby Speaking with Angel 93, I look..well, handy, I suppose. I look like I can take care of myself, what with the tattoos. |