| 释义 |
hardware|ˈhɑːdwɛə(r)|
[See ware.]
1. a. Small ware or goods of metal; ironmongery.
c1515[implied in hardwareman]. 1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6146/10 John Lowe.. Haberdasher of Hard-Ware. 1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772. 10 Locks, hinges, cast-iron and other branches of hardware. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 535 Pedlars..with a pack of scissors or other hardware at their backs.
b. Weapons.
1865L. N. Beaudry Hist. Rec. 5th N.Y. Cavalry (1868) 38 Capt. Hammond..charged upon the rebels.., crying as he flew forward, ‘give them your hardware, boys!’ 1885Daily News 12 Nov. 5/4 The chances are that the authorities..may have had an eye on such kind of ‘hardware’ [sc. torpedoes]. 1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 42 Hardware,..weapons; knives; razors; tools and paraphernalia used by safe-crackers [etc.]. 1929Amer. Speech V. 59 His [sc. a Nebraska cowboy's] fire arms are frequently called his ‘hardware’. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Apr. 168/2 How much does our superiority in hardware contribute to our over-all security? 1966New Yorker 29 Oct. 236 Oh, put your hands up, dear. He's got the hardware. 1967Observer 11 June 11/2 The wholesale destruction this week of expensive hard⁓ware has brought home to some Arabs the folly of an extravagant armament policy.
c. The physical components of a system or device as opposed to the procedures required for its operation; opp. software.
1947D. R. Hartree Calculating Machines 14 The ENIAC... I shall give a brief account of it, since it will make the later discussion more realistic if you have an idea of some ‘hardware’ and how it is used, and this is the equipment with which I am best acquainted. 1953A. D. & K. H. V. Booth Automatic Digital Calculators xv. 169 The engineering difficulties encountered in this type of machine are great, and a considerable increase in the size and complexity of the ‘hardware’ seems inevitable. 1960[see algorithmic a.]. 1960Times 21 Mar. 13/6 Academician Sedov..knows the hazards of ‘hardware’ projected into space. 1960Times (Computer Suppl.) 4 Oct. p. iii/7 Both punched card and computer ‘hardware’ will continue to develop very rapidly. 1962J. Glenn in Into Orbit 6 The engineers and technicians had to start from scratch to develop the capsule and some of the other pieces of hardware which we are using. 1963Engineering 23 Aug. 246/1 Hardware means the apparatus or machinery of computing, both the main instrument and its peripheral or ancillary equipment. 1964Daily Tel. 14 Feb. 29/8 Engineers are leaving because..they cannot rely on..early development being continued to the ‘hard⁓ware’ stage. 1965New Scientist 4 Nov. 331/1 All necessary hardware [for computers] exists today and is in production, but getting a comprehensive system off the ground requires the creation of a great deal of software. 1968Lebende Sprachen XIII. 3/1 The practical requirements for the manned lunar landing program are being translated into hardware, experiments and programs. 1968Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 198/2 Elaborate hardware is not a substitute for a thoroughgoing analysis of the whole area of medical vocabularies, procedures, information and systems for the care of patients. 1969Computers & Humanities III. 139 Hardware refers to the physical apparatus while software describes the program languages that permit efficient use of the hardware.
d. Various slang and colloquial senses.
1839Spirit of Times 1 June 153/3 He prepared to swallow his fifth invoice of ‘hardware’ [sc. whisky]. 1945L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 12/2 Hardware, flashy jewelry. 1951I. Shaw Troubled Air vii. 105 When the rating goes up, I buy my hardware [sc. jewellery] at Cartier's. 1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 206 Hardware, slang for a medal or trophy won in a skiing competition. 1968Times 9 Sept. 6/7 Prince William has some useful leisure hard⁓ware—like a private aircraft.
2. attrib. and Comb., as hardware dealer, hardware factory, hardware merchant, hardware trade; hardware paper, a make of durable wrapping-paper; hardware store orig. U.S., an ironmongery shop.
1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 14 Mr. Wood..a hard-ware-dealer, procured a patent..to coin 108,000l. in copper. 1789Boston Directory, Whitwell,..hardware store. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. iv. §i. (1876) 35 Suppose..that the capitalist is a hardware manufacturer. 1862Trollope Orley F. vi. 36 A..man in the hardware line. 1886Harper's Mag. June 48/1 Wrapping the stem [of the peach-tree]..with strong hardware or sheathing paper. 1964M. Gallant in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd Ser. (1968) 60 Across the Alps was the name of a hard⁓ware store and its address on the other side of Montreal. 1972P.O. Telephone Directory, London Yellow Pages Classified (North) 152/1 Barker's Hardware Stores Ltd, 43 High St. |