| 释义 |
waterfall|ˈwɔːtəfɔːl|
[f. water n. + fall n.; OE. had wæterᵹefeall. Cf. G. wasserfall, -gefäll(e, ON. vatnfall.]
1. A more or less perpendicular descent of water from a height over a ledge of rock or precipice; a cascade, cataract.
998Crawford Charters (1895) 21 æfter heafdon to þam wæterᵹefeal æfter streame. [1372in Shropsh. Arch. Soc. Trans. Ser. iii. IV. 225 Johannes de Watrefal.] 14..Newminster Cartul. (Surtees) 63 Sicud Derestrete vadit inter Filton et Toland usque ad Waterfal, et a Waterfal per Slade. 1421Inquisition in Hutchinson Durham (1787) II. 381 Villa de Langley & le waterfall. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 21 This River hath foure great water fals. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 343 A noise..as of a mighty cataract or waterfall. 1838Lytton Leila i. iii, The silver tinkling of waterfalls chimed melodiously within the gardens. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 50 The ice cascade..appeared..like the foam of a waterfall.
transf.1889Stevenson Master of Ballantrae ix. 252 When..we lay becalmed..in a gasping heat, which was presently exchanged for a surprising waterfall of rain.
Comb.1867MacGregor ‘Rob Roy’ in Baltic 123 Numerous wheels, with waterfall spray rising slowly in the morning air.
2. Such an inclination of the ground as will facilitate the fall or drainage of water.
1522in Exch. Rolls Scot. XV. 601 Terras Thome Haithry..ex parte occidentali et in longitudine caude ascendendo prope caput montis et le watterfaw earundem. 1590Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 611/2 The saidis landis of Schoirthoip streikand south as the hill or wattir fall thairof gais to the landis of Dalgleis. 1603Ibid. 506/2 Passing as the water fall upoun the braaheid gangis [to] the merchis of Brume⁓hous. 1766Complete Farmer s.v. Flax, But in some parts of the country, a sufficiency of water and water-fall is not to be met with. 1859R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 73 Caused by want of waterfall, its only efficient remedy would be [etc.].
†3. A swift stream tumbling in a rocky bed, a rapid. Obs.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 366 To fire the Brambles, snare the Birds, and steep In wholsom Water-falls the woolly Sheep. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 122/1 You may level a Torrent or Water-fall by laying a barrier across the Stream. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. viii. 218 The complicated beauties which occurred in this extraordinary water-fall.
4. Coal-mining. A special ‘head’ of water to be turned down a pit-shaft when needed.
1797J. Curr Coal Viewer 33 A stream of water with a waterfall of about half the depth of the pit is necessary, if any business of consequence must be done. 1860Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) III. 957 This distribution was often fraught with such danger, that a torrent of water had to be kept in readiness, under the name of the waterfall, to be let down to extinguish the fire in a moment. 1867W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 209 The waterfall, formed by turning a special stream into the downcast shaft, or by allowing the pump⁓cisterns to run over, is a useful auxiliary, especially for driving in air after an accident.
5. A neckcloth, scarf, or tie with long pendant ends. ? Obs.
1848J. H. Newman Let. 3 Sept. (1962) XII. 268 He..looks a striking man in his Jesuit dress, though what his cut may be with a French coat and satin waterfall I can't tell. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxvi, Benjamin, the Jew money-lender,..dressed in a gaudy figured satin waist⁓coat and waterfall. 1914Lit. Digest 22 Aug. 328/2 A waterfall..is, in addition, a scarf or necktie with long drooping ends, or a chignon with pendent curls.
6. A chignon; also, a wave of hair falling down the neck below the chignon or net. orig. U.S.
1859C. C. Richards Village Life in Amer. (1912) 119, I wore my new waterfall for the first time. 1866Mrs. Whitney Leslie Goldthwaite iii, The brown silk net..had given way all at once into a great hole under the waterfall, and the soft hair would fret itself through. 1875Spectator (Melbourne) 22 May 27/2 The young lady that affects waterfalls, the Grecian bend, or the kangaroo hop. 1890Daily News 1 Sept. 5/3 Human hair..goes through long processes of purification before it is made up into the wigs, chignons, waterfalls, &c.
7. In a woman's garment, a fall of material or attached decoration (orig. with reference to bustles).
1886Girl's Own Paper 27 Feb. 339/3 Patterns already issued:—polonaise with waterfall back. 1925Dialect Notes V. 346 Waterfall, n., a form of bustle for hanging the dress round the body. 1950New Yorker 25 Mar. 84/2 What she calls ‘waterfalls’—cascades of bustle drapery—add interest to the backs of all types of clothes. 1970Trafford Spring & Summer Catal. 4 The dress is fully lined, and a waterfall frill, edged with dainty braid, tops a gently flared skirt. 1981Times 30 July 2/8 The Queen's coat and dress, with its waterfall of pleated crêpe de chine.
8. Ceramics. A stream of glaze material used for application to the upper surfaces of tiles (see quot. 1964). Freq. attrib.
1961Brit. Ceramics Abstracts 197 Methods of glazing wall-tiles... The second part [deals] with the ‘waterfall’ process of glazing. 1964A. E. Dodd Dict. Ceramics 308 Waterfall process, a method for the application of glaze materials to a ceramic body by mechanically conveying the ware through a continuously flowing (recirculated) vertical stream of the glaze suspension. The process is used in the glazing of wall tiles. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iii. 99 (caption) Tiles to be glazed on one side only are conveyed mechanically..through a waterfall of glaze slip that covers only their upper surfaces and edges. 1973C. W. Parmelee Ceramic Glazes (ed. 3) v. 149 Each color is dried between applications and the final station applies the glaze by waterfall. Ibid., Tiles are placed on a conveyor.. and passed under the waterfall machine.
Hence as v. intr., to tumble or cascade in the manner of a waterfall; trans., to cover with a stream of running liquid; so ˈwaterfalled a., having a waterfall (also fig.); ˈwaterfalling ppl. a. and vbl. n.
1944G. Barker Eros in Dogma 34 Who has not seen, over The waterfalling hair at the shoulder of Life, Death from his own face staring out of a glass? 1957J. Frame Owls do Cry (1958) xxxviii. 171 Gaping idiot mouth waterfalled with slobber. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iii. 99 Spray that misses the articles goes onto a wall at the back of the booth that is continuously ‘waterfalled’. Ibid. (caption) ‘Waterfalling’ of wall tiles. 1968B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 128 One boy posed Eros-like, and allowed a jet of water to play into his palm and waterfall out on to the tiles of the drying area. 1976Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16–22 Dec. 26/2 The exotic venue was..the 1,036 acre Wild Life Park at Cricket St Thomas with the waterfalled Bedpool Lakes reposing in the partly wooded valley below. 1980J. Gardner Garden of Weapons ii. iv. 154 The rope ladder..dislodged, waterfalling on to the balcony. |