| 释义 |
▪ I. improver1|ɪmˈpruːvə(r)|
[f. improve v.2 + -er1.]
One who or that which improves.
†1. One who turns something to good account, or makes profitable use of it: in quot. 1647, one who cultivates or practises. Obs.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §132 The greatest..improvers of that Breeding, and those Qualifications with which Courts used to be adorned. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 434 The ablest Improver of his time and parts. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §18 This great improver and discoverer of the Mechanicall power of matter.
2. a. One who makes better; a person that increases the value or excellence of a thing, or brings it into a more desirable state. In early use, One who advances, develops, or makes more perfect (a branch of knowledge, etc.).
a1661Fuller Worthies xii. (1662) 41 Eminent Improvers of any art may be allowed for the Co-inventers thereof. 1713Gay Guardian No. 149 ⁋18, I would counsel all our improvers of fashion always to take the hint from France. 1807G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. vi. 310 The monks were..the improvers of themselves, and the instructers of others, in the most useful arts. 1842Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 120 An improver of the language. 1882–3in Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. 2132 An improver of other men's verses.
b. spec. One who applies himself to making land more productive or profitable. (Cf. improvable 2, improvement 2). Now merged in 2.
1649W. Blithe (title) English Improver, or a new Survey of Husbandry. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. (ed. 2) 274 May I be allowed to say, without giving offence to Improvers [etc.]? 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 585 In 1723, a Society of Improvers was established at Edinburgh. 1883Contemp. Rev. Dec. 861 Many landlords are great improvers. Many spend annually a third or half of their rent in improvements.
c. A thing that improves or makes better. spec. Short for dress-improver: see dress n. 4 a.
1669Stillingfl. Serm. ix. (1673) 167 Cold and nakedness, stripes and imprisonments, racks and torments? Are these the improvers of an excellent constitution? 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. v. §2. 61 [Chalk] after it is burned into Lime, becomes a very excellent Improver of Lands. 1777Lightfoot Flora Scot. II. 658 Fern cut while green, and left to rot upon the ground, is a good improver of land. 1872Young Englishwoman Oct. 554/1 The improver consists of a thick calico foundation stiffened with whalebone..furnished with strings to tie round the waist. 1884Pall Mall G. 6 Sept. 7/2 She was searched, and her ‘improver’ was found to be so arranged as to hold 6 lb. of smuggled tobacco. 1887Daily News 22 June 5/2 The hideous ‘improver’, which is one of the blots upon the picturesqueness of modern costume.
d. Any substance or preparation added to a foodstuff by a manufacturer or processor in order to improve it in some respect (e.g. in texture or keeping quality).
1902Leffmann & Beam Food Analysis 364 Improvers and Preservatives.—Mixtures of potassium nitrate, sodium chlorid, and other mineral preservatives with a little coloring-matter..are sold for improving the appearance of meat. 1925Mojonnier & Troy Technical Control Dairy Products (ed. 2) xiii. 300 Several commercial products commonly known by the general term ‘ice cream improvers’ are in common use. These consist of rennet or pepsin mixed with certain powders such as milk sugar. These products react upon the casein in the mix, causing an increase in the viscosity. 1927Manch. Guardian Weekly 11 Mar. 183/2 Indiscreet and provocative references in the press to ‘improvers’ and bleaching agents used in the preparation of flour for bread-making. 1960W. J. France Breadmaking & Flour Confectionary xi. 109 Barbadoes and Demarara.—These sugars because of their colour, are useful brown bread improvers, adding a characteristic flavour to brown breads. 1970Fox & Cameron Food Sci. viii. 165 This ageing period can be dispensed with if the flour is treated with a minute quantity of one of a number of oxidizing agents which are called flour improvers. Ibid., The first four of the improvers listed increase the whiteness of the flour by bleaching the carotene and xanthophyll, which..give the flour a slight yellow tinge.
3. A person who works at a trade under an employer for the purpose of improving his or her knowledge or skill, and accepts the opportunity of such improvement wholly or in part instead of wages.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Improver, a learner. 1883Daily Tel. 9 Apr. 7/6 (Advt. Milliners) Juniors or improvers. 1884B'ham Daily Post 24 Jan. 3/5 (Advt.) Telegraph Clerks.—Wanted, Young Lady, as Improver. 1895Westm. Gaz. 18 Sept. 3/1 His favourite plan is to take a situation as ‘improver’ to a working jeweller in a small way of business.
†4. = approver2. Obs. rare.
1670Blount Law. Dict. s.v. Approve, You may see what kinde of Approvers or Improvers were formerly in the Marches of Wales, authorized by the Prince thereof.
Hence imˈproveress, a female improver; imˈprovership, the position of an improver (sense 3).
1744J. Paterson Comm. Milton's P.L. 305 Ceres was an inventress or improveress of husbandry. 1884Daily News 3 Sept. 8/5 (Advt.) To Printers.—Improvership Wanted.
▪ II. † imˈprover2 Obs. rare—0.
[f. improve v.1 + -er1.]
One who disproves, a confuter.
1611Florio, Improuatore, an improouer. |