释义 |
ˈwater-ret, v. Also corruptly -rot: see rot v. 4 c. trans. To ret (flax or hemp) by steeping in water: opposed to dew-ret v.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 404/2 Such hemp as is designed for seed is seldom water-retted. 1797A. Young Agric. Suffolk 121 In a circle of about six miles round Tilnetham, the greater part [of the hemp] is never put into the water at all but is dew-retted... The hemp at market is not worth so much..as that which hath been water-retted. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 489 The diminished value of flax which is much water-retted. Hence water-retting vbl. n. (corruptly -rotting: see rotting vbl. n. 2).
1794Vancouver Agric. Cambridge 218 The practice of water-rotting is generally prefer'd to that of dew-rotting. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v. Retting-pit, In the fens there are two different modes of retting; dew-retting..and water-retting, which is laying it in a pond or ditch, covered with turf. 1889Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) IX. 294/2. |