| 释义 |
▪ I. wanter1|ˈwɒntə(r)|
[f. want v. + -er1.]
1. One who is deficient in something. ? Obs.
1611J. Davies (Heref.) Sco. Folly (Grosart) 21/2 What should I thinke of courage? if it wants, The wanters are despis'd of God and men. 1886Spectator 13 Feb. 209/2 The wanters were many and the wealthy few.
2. One who is in need or desirous of something.
1727Swift Let. to Mrs. Howard 9 July, But you know too well already how very injudicious the general tribe of wanters are. 1748Richardson Clarissa VIII. 144 Suppose B, in such great want of this treasure, as to be unable to live without it. And suppose A, the Miser, has such an opinion of B, the Wanter, that he would rather lend it to him, than to any mortal living. 1867Chamb. Jrnl. 21 Dec. 801 An exchange..in which the wanters and the wanted may meet.
b. One who seeks a husband or wife. dial.
1723Ramsay Fair Assembly viii, Then, ilka wanter wale a wife, Ere eild and humdrums seize ye. 1804R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. 82 There's lads but few in our town, And lasses wanters plenty. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxviii, And dinna sneeze at Joe, if he should be for drawing up wi' you,..he's a handy boy, and a wanter. 1871C. Gibbon Lack of Gold xxii, He did not belong to the set of lively ‘wanters’—as the bachelors were designated.
▪ II. wanter2 dial.|ˈwɒntə(r)|
[f. want n.1 + -er1.]
A mole-catcher.
1903Daily Chron. 8 July 3/5 John Perry, the old ‘wanter’, or mole-catcher of Luccombe. |