| 释义 |
▪ I. † alliˈgator1 Obs.—0
[a. L. alligātōr, agent-noun f. alligā-re to bind: see alligate a.]
One who binds or ties.
1706Phillips, Alligator, a Binder or Tyer of the Vines to their Stakes. 1731Bailey, Alligator, a binder.
▪ II. alligator2 Zool.|ˈælɪgeɪtə(r)|
Forms: 6 lagarto, alagarto, aligarto, 7 alegarto, alligarta, allegater, aligator, 7–8 allegator, 7– alligator.
[c gray][orig. ad. Sp. el or al lagarto the lizard, (pointing to a dial. L. lacarta for lacerta,) applied par excellence to the gigantic saurians of the New World. In Eng. the word soon became allagarto, alagarto, reduced to alegarto, alligarta, whence by pop. corruption alligarter, allegater, alligator, the medial (aː(r)[/c]) becoming |aː| now |eɪ|, and the final o taking r, as in 'tatur (potato), buffaler, feller, etc. As the spelling alligator had a literary and etymological appearance, it was established in the lang., and has since been adopted in Fr.
(‘Some of our older writers on..America affirm that it is merely a modification of the Indian word legateer or allegater.’ Penny Cycl. I. 349.)]
1. a. A genus of saurian reptiles of the crocodile family, also called Caymans, of which the various species are found in America; popularly the name is extended to all large American Saurians, some of which are true crocodiles.
1568J. Hortop (Hakl. Soc.) III. 580 In this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile. 1577Frampton Joyfull Newes ii. (1596) 73 b, Caimanes, that are called Lagartos. 1591A. Knivet in Purchas Pilgr. IV. 1228 Aligartos (which we call in English crocodiles). 1593R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 178 In this river, and all the rivers of this coast, are great abundance of alagartoes. 1614Raleigh Hist. World i. 96 The Crocodiles (now called Alegartos). 1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. vi. (1631) 28 Who can tell, if..the Alligarta hath not piss'd thereon? 1623Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 43 (1st Fol.) In his needie shop a tortoyrs hung, An Allegater stuft [1597 1st Qo. Aligarta]. 1663Cowley Vis. Cromwell in Verses, &c. (1669) 71 He must have his prey of the whole Indies both by Sea and Land, this great Aligator. 1692Coles, Alegator, a Jamaica Crocodile. 1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 256 We found no Allegators here, tho' there are several. 1699Garth Dispens. ii. 19 And near, a scaly Alligator hung. 1738Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XL. 345 The Spaniards first gave them the Name of Allagarto..and from the Words Al Lagarto, our English Sailors have formed the Word Alligator. 1756Ibid. XLIX. 640 A young allegator..here laid before you. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. II. 254 Like alligators sleeping in the mire. 1880Haughton Phys. Geogr. iii. 82 The alligator thrives in the neighbourhood of New Orleans. 1882Daily News 8 June 5/3 The profession of alligator farming has been developed in California.
b. [absol. use of sense 4 c below.] Alligator skin or material resembling this; also pl., shoes of alligator or mock-alligator skin (orig. U.S.).
1905–6T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 180/1 Buff alligator, inside frame, moire silk lined,..colors tan, brown, blue and green. 1951Vogue 1 Mar. 194 Take it for granted—the red shoe..for city, country: alligator. 1952Creative Footwear Mar. 24/1 Easter footwear for women is already being sold, and the shell pump in alligator. 1978J. Wambaugh Black Marble xv. 341 There was no way he could..clean the blood and feces from his imitation alligators.
2. Mining.
a. A rock-breaker operating by jaws.
b. A ‘Squeezer’ or machine for reducing the puddle-ball to a compact mass. Raymond's Gloss.
3. a. U.S. slang. A non-playing devotee of swing music, a hep-cat. (No longer in use.)
1936Delineator Nov. 10/2 You are there as an alligator, so don't applaud. 1939Collier's 8 Apr. 9/2 It's this jive, hep-cat, alligator, jitterbug craze—this swing mania! 1943N.Y. Times 9 May ii. 5/5 The alligators started to fall in at the crack of dawn. 1952C. R. Cooper Teen-Age Vice (1959) iv. 58 Alligators and hep-cats, or non-performing swing fans.
b. In rhyming catch-phrase see you later, alligator (in a while, crocodile), etc., used at parting. Cf. abyssinia and see v. 12 e. slang.
1957R. C. Guidry See you later, Alligator (song) 3 See you lat-er, al-li-ga-tor, Aft-er 'while, croc-o-dile,—Can't you see you're in my way, now, Don't you know you cramp my style? 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ii. 17 Rhyme seems to appeal to a child as something funny and remarkable in itself, there being neither wit nor reason to support it... Hence the way lines of current dance songs become catch phrases..‘See you later, alligator’—‘In a while, crocodile’, repeated ad nauseam in 1956. 1960P. Mortimer Saturday Lunch with Brownings 38 ‘See you later, Alligator.’ ‘See you in a little while, Crocodile.’ 1960J. Maclaren-Ross Until Day she Dies ii. 32 ‘Alligator,’ she seemed to say, before the crowd closed round and hid her from sight. 1978J. Wambaugh Black Marble v. 67 Giving Tyrone McGee a chance to grin malevolently..and say, ‘Catch you later, alligator’.
4. a. Comb. alligator apple, the fruit of a West Indian tree, Anona palustris; alligator gar: see gar n. b (also alligator snapper, alligator terrapin, alligator turtle: see at second element); alligator pear, the fruit of a West Indian tree, Persea gratissima (also called Laurus persea), allied to the laurels; alligator tortoise, a large species of marsh tortoise (Chelydra serpentina, family Emydidæ), found in the waters of Carolina, also called the Snapping Turtle; alligator wood, the timber of a West Indian tree, Guarea Swartzii.
1866M. T. Masters in Treas. Bot. 70 The fruit is called the Alligator Apple, but is not eaten as it contains a narcotic principle.
1821in Texas Hist. Q. VII. 300 Found another Karanqua encamp at which was..Alligator heads and the skins of Alligator Gars. 1843[see gar n.]. 1944Reader's Digest July 110 A huge alligator gar rips their nets to pieces, destroying the labor of weeks.
1763Grainger Sug. Cane i. note 9 The avocato, avocado, avigato, or, as the English corruptly call it, alligator-pear. 1861Tylor Anahuac ix. 227 There is a well-known West Indian fruit which we call an avocado or alligator-pear, and which the French call ‘avocat’ and the Spaniards ‘aguacate.’ All these names are corruptions of the Aztec name of the fruit, ‘ahuacatl.’
1884Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 153 An Alligator Snapper of perhaps forty pounds weight.
1835W. G. Simms Partisan 317 Three enormous terrapins of that doubtful brood which the vulgar in the southern country describe as the alligator terrapin. 1888Alligator terrapin [see snapper n.1 7 c].
1842J. E. De Kay Zool. N.Y. iii. 8 The Snapping Turtle..is one of our largest turtles... In other sections, it is known under the names of Logger-head, Alligator Turtle and Couta. 1885J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. III. 452 The elongated tail of this animal..has..given rise to the popular name, ‘alligator-turtle’.
1725Sloane Jamaica ii. 24 Alleygator or Musk-Wood..The Smell [of the trunk] is sweet like Musk, or that of an Alleygator, whence the name. 1837Macfadyen Fl. Jamaica 173 The Alligator Wood.
b. Used attrib. of a device or apparatus, as clips, forceps, etc., resembling in form or action the jaws of an alligator (cf. sense 2).
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 22/1 Alligator Forceps. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 23/1 Alligator wrench, a tool with fixed serrated jaws, used for twisting and screwing pipes into position. 1952Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. XLIII. 86 Alligator clips with platinum electrodes soldered to the jaws were attached to the rat's ears.
c. attrib. Of shoes, handbags, etc.: made of alligator skin or material resembling this. orig. U.S.
[1869W. H. H. Murray Adventures in Wilderness 26 A pair of huge alligator-leather boots.] 1892Harper's Mag. Feb. 486/2 ‘Are you the man who invented paper soles for shoes?’.. ‘Yes, sir; also..paper alligator bags.’ 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 519/2 Men's genuine alligator slippers. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 252/2 Fine alligator club bag, made of selected goat skin. 1950‘N. Shute’ Town like Alice vii. 202 The only work she really knew about was fancy leather goods, alligator shoes and handbags and attaché cases. 1984Washington Post. 27 Aug. (Business Suppl.) 15/1 Cedar Post..was one of the first stores in that area that sold alligator boots.
Add:[4.] [a.] alligator weed, an orig. South American aquatic plant, Alternanthera philoxeroides, of the family Amaranthaceae, which has spread as a weed when introduced elsewhere.
1942Geogr. Rev. XXXII. 83 Alligator weed, commonly known as alligator grass, resembles water hyacinth in many ways. 1974Nature 30 Aug. 704/1 Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides), a normally harmless aquatic weed, is spreading rapidly in the rivers and canals of eastern Australia. 1980Jrnl. Austral. Inst. Agric. Sci. XLVI. 152/2 Floating mats of alligator weed are generally monocultures but occasionally other species occur.
Add:[4.] [a.] alligator snapping turtle, the larger of two species of snapping turtle, Macroclemys temminckii, having crests on its tail which resemble those of an alligator.
1882H. C. Yarrow in Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 24. 5 Macrochelys Lacertina (Schweigger) Cope. *Alligator Snapping Turtle; ‘Caoune’. 1989Wilson & Ferris Encycl. Southern Culture 325/2 The alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in the world. |