| 释义 |
▪ I. weave, n.|wiːv|
[f. weave v.1]
†1. Something that has been woven, a woven fabric. Obs.
1581A. Hall Iliad ix. 171 A couerlet fine aloft, Of woollen weaue. 1597Middleton Wisd. Solomon iv. 11 So righteous are allurde by sins deceit, And oft inticed into sinners weave. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. xv. 257 This habit of Iohn, was..rather some finer weave of Camelot.
2. A particular method or pattern of weaving.
1888C. P. Brooks Cotton Manuf. 132 This weave is not confined to the making of fabrics with an unbroken pile surface. 1888R. Beaumont Woollen Manuf. x. 279 It may..be useful to consider how, from a plain weave warped and woven one thread black and one thread white, the solid lines of these colours..have been formed. 1901Scotsman 1 Apr. 11/1 With reference to linens there has been a larger demand for weaves of this kind.
▪ II. weave, v.1|wiːv|
Pa. tense wove |wəʊv|; pa. pple. woven |ˈwəʊv(ə)n|. Forms: inf. and pres. stem 1 wefan (2 sing. wyfst, 3 sing. wefð, wifeð, wyfð), weofan, 3–6 weve, 4–5 wewe, wef(e, 5–6 weyve, Sc. weif(f, weff, 6 weeve, wayve, wyeve, Sc. weive, weiwe, wif(f, wyf, wywe, 6–9 Sc. wyve, 6– weave. pa. tense sing. 1 wæf, wef, 4 wof, woof, 4–5 waf, wafe, wave, 6– wove; weak forms: 4 wevede, 7 weavde, 6–9 weaved. pa. tense pl. 1 wǽfon, 4 weven, woven. pa. pple. 1 wefen, ᵹewefen, ᵹiwefen, North. ᵹeuoefen, 3 iweove, iweven, 4 iweve, wovun, ywoven, (i)wovyn, 5–6 Sc. weif, 6 Sc. weffin, wiffin, woifen, wowein, wolvin, 7–9 wove, 4– woven; weak forms: 4–6 weved, 4 weft, woved, 5 weuyd, 7 weevd, weavd, 6–9 weaved.
[A Common Teut. strong verb (not recorded in Gothic): OE. wefan, pa. tense wæf, pl. wǽfon, pa. pple. wefen, corresponds to OFris. *weva (NFris. weewen, WFris. weve, weevje), (M)LG., (M)Du. weven, OHG. weban, wepan (MHG., mod.G. weben), ON. vefa (MSw. väva, Sw. väfva, Da. væve):—OTeut. *weƀ- (:*waƀ-: *wǣƀ-):—Indogermanic *webh- (:*wēbh- :*ubh-), represented in Skr. ūrṇavā́bhi spider (lit. ‘wool-weaver’), Gr. ὑϕή, ὕϕος, web, ὑϕαίνειν to weave. The same root occurs in web (and abb), weft, woof.
In the 14th and 15th c. the form of the pa. pple. became assimilated to that of the pa. pples. of strong verbs with root ending in a liquid (e.g. steal, stolen), and, as in most verbs of that class, the o of the pa. pple. was extended to the pa. tense both sing. and pl. The weak inflexion has been occasionally used in all periods from the 14th c. onwards, but has never become general.]
1. trans. To form or fabricate (a stuff or material) by interlacing yarns or other filaments of a particular substance in a continuous web; to manufacture in a loom by crossing the threads or yarns called respectively the warp and the weft. Also with obj. the web itself, a garment made up of such a stuff or material. † to weave out: to complete the weaving of.
† to weave in a stool: see stool n. 3.
c900Bæda's Hist. iv. xxv. (1890) 354 Hio smælo hræᵹel weofaþ & wyrcaþ. c1050Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 504/2 Ordiretur, wefen wæs. c1200Virtues & Vices 39 Al swa nan webb ne mai bien iweuen wið-uten twa beames. c1290St. Edmund Conf. 167 in S. Eng. Leg. 436 Heo [a hair shirt] nas i-sponne ne i-weoue, ake i-broide strengus longue. c1300Assump. Virg. 668 This ilke webbe here self woof. 1390Gower Conf. III. 237 Thei tawhten him a Las to breide, And weve a Pours. c1450Mirk's Festial 246 Scho occupiet hir craft of weuyng cloþes and ornamentes to þe auter. 1483Cath. Angl. 412/1 To Wefe, texere. 1513Douglas æneis xiii. viii. 86 The precyus wedis, Wrocht craftely, and weif of goldin thredis Quhilum be fair Andromachais hand. 1528More Dyaloge iii. x. O v b/2 Yt were as sone done to weue a new web of clothe as to sowe vppe euery hole in a net. 1530Palsgr. 779/1 The weyver sayeth he can nat wayve my clothe tyll he have more yarne. 1535Coverdale Job vii. 6 My dayes passe ouer more spedely, then a weeuer can weeue out his webbe. 1538Elyot Dict., Textrina.., the place where thinges be weaued or wounden. 1539Bible (Great) 2 Kings xxiii. 7 Where the wemen woue hanginges for the groue. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 73 b, For all the copes and Vestementes wer but of one pece, so wouen for the purpose. 1584Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 13 For weavinge forescore yerdes and four of canuise, vs. 1632Lithgow Trav. vi. 250 He weau'd these Napkins. 1670Sir S. Crow in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 15 The silke..beeing ill woven will shrink and pucker. 1697Dryden æneis vii. 340 These Purple Vests were weav'd by Dardan Dames. Ibid. ix. 651 The Mantle..which I wove with Care. 1725Pope Odyss. xv. 139 Accept, dear youth, this monument of love, Long since, in better days, by Helen wove. 1789–96Morse Amer. Geog. I. 541 Woollen stockings..of excellent quality are wove by the Germans, especially in Germantown. 1856G. Roberts Soc. Hist. 376 Our lace was not wove. It had neither warp nor woof. 1872Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 69 The shawls and the textile furniture used in the rites of religion were frequently woven in the temples.
b. in figurative context.
In many langs. the equivalent vb. is used in metaphorical expressions relating to the contriving of plots or deception: so Gr. ὑϕαίνειν, L. texere, ordiri, Fr. ourdir. Cf. 1 f.
1382Wyclif Isa. xxx. 1 Wo!.. seith the Lord, that ȝee schulden do counseil, and not of me; and wefen a web [Vulg. ordiremini telam], and not bi my spirit. 1606Sir G. Goosecappe v. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 85 All the wiles Weeud in the loomes of greatnes, and of state. c1620Moryson Itin. Suppl. (1903) 191 If..each Deputy should giue in writing to the State in England a full relation of his gouernment and the State of that kingdome [Ireland], so as his successour might weaue the same webb he had begunn, and not make a newe frame of his owne. a1662Heylin Cypr. Angl. 64 For much they feared that Abbot would unravel all the Web which Bancroft with such pains had weaved. 1796E. Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah (1811) II. 220 The robes of the seasons, wove in the changeful looms of nature. 1808Scott Marm. vi. xvii, O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! 1842Lytton Zanoni i. i, All this helped silently to weave charmed webs over Viola's imagination. 1893F. Thompson Poems 59 Better thou wov'st thy woof of life than thou didst weave thy woof of song.
c. said of the loom.
1804W. L. Bowles Spir. Discov. ii. 275 Thy mariners..furled th' embroidered sails, That looms of Egypt wove.
d. To depict in tapestry.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2360 She hadde I-wouyn In a stamyn large How she was brought from Athenys in a Barge. Ibid. 2364 And al the thyng that Tereus hath wrought She waf it wel & wrot the storye a-boue. 1513Douglas æneis v. v. 15 Quhairon wes weif in subtell goldin threidis King Troyus son [etc.]. a1683Oldham Rem. (1684) 114, I have seen a handsomer Mortal carv'd in Monumental Ginger⁓bread, and woven in Hangings at Mortlock.
fig.1802Scott T. Rhymer iii. xvi, Their loves, their woes, the gifted bard In fairy tissue wove.
e. fig. To contrive, fabricate, or construct (a mental product) with elaborate care. Also with out, up.
c1420Wyclif Bible I. 71/1 Of whom the first [Isaiah] is not seyn to me to weuen prophecie, but euangelie. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 351 Your wise, but very darke speeches..are wouen vp in so intricate a maner, as I know not how to proportion mine answere vnto them. a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vi. vi. 6 For answer whereunto Acesius weaveth out a long History of things that hapned in the persecution under Decius. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxv. (1674) 44 The Author's subtilty in weaving of his Poem. 1799Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 165 Then weave in rapid verse the deeds they tell. 1819W. S. Rose Lett. N. Italy I. 24, I had already woven a little romance for him in my imagination. 1824Lamb Elia, Blakesmoor, Contemplations on the great and good..weave for us illusions. 1849Miss Mulock Ogilvies ii, Katherine had already woven out the whole romance of the stranger's life. 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. i. i, You stole the money, and you have woven a plot to lay the sin at my door. 1862Spencer First Princ. i. iii. §21 (1875) 66 The original materials out of which all thought is woven. 1874M. Creighton Hist. Ess. i. (1902) 42 The..desire for reality that made him [Dante] weave his poem around himself. 1876Thompson Chron. A. de Usk 186 The evil arts of brewing charms and weaving spells. 1885–94Bridges Eros & Psyche May 15 Pathetic strains and passionate they wove, Urgent in ecstasies of heavenly sense. 1913W. K. Fleming Mysticism Chr. 108 In his writings, his weakness lay in his proneness..to weave endless allegories out of the Old Testament writings.
f. To form (e.g. a basket, a wreath) by interlacing rods or twigs, flowers, etc.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clii. (1495) 704 Stakes be pyghte in the grounde and there abowte ben wrethes wouen and wounden of thornes. 1599T. Cutwode Caltha Poet. (Roxb.) cxxiv, And others very busie do begin: To weaue their litle baskets..to put their hearbs and all their flowers in. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 839 Adam the while..had wove Of choicest Flours a Garland to adorne Her Tresses. 1757Dyer Fleece i. 375 Hurdles to weave, and chearly shelters raise, Thy vacant hours require. 1813Scott Rokeby v. xiii, But, Lady, weave no wreath for me, Or weave it of the cypress-tree! 1839F. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia (1863) 21 Among the Brobdignagian sedges..the nightshade..weaves a perfect matting of its poisonous garlands. 1839Emerson Poems, The Problem 25 Know'st thou what wove yon woodbird's nest Of leaves, and feathers from her breast? 1842Macaulay Horatius lxix, When the girls are weaving baskets, And the lads are shaping bows. 1902S. E. White Blazed Trail viii, With the skill of ghastly practice some of them wove a litter on which the body was placed.
fig.1893Liddon Life Pusey I. App. A. 451 Legend has woven a wreath round the early history of the family.
g. Sc. To knit. Also dial. to plait (hair).
1695Rec. Old. Aberd. (New Spalding Club) I. 160 Privat schooles..wherein children ar taught to sew or wyve. 1785Burns Epist. to J. Lapraik 1 Apr. ii, On Fasteneen we had a rockin, To ca' the crack and weave our stockin. 1825Jamieson, To Weave v. a. and n. To knit, applied to stockings, &c.; pron. Wyve. Aberd. 1884J. C. Egerton Sussex Folk 132 He..used to go regularly twice a week to the house of one of his principal customers, ‘to weave his cue’, or, in less professional language, to plait his pigtail.
¶h. In figurative use app. sometimes confusedly: To spin, twine (a cord, thread).
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 24413 The cordeler that waf the corde Of pes, vnyte, and concorde,..Hyr name was called ‘Charyte’. 1648Gage West. Ind. 19 The Indians uproar had weaved for us a thred of long discourse. 1856Kane Arctic Expl. II. xxv. 249 The men weave their long yarns with peals of rattling hearty laughter between.
2. absol. or intr. To practise weaving; to work with a loom.
c1000ælfric Gram. xv. (Z.) 104 Tui ancilla texit Ðin wyln wefð. 1390Gower Conf. II. 170 Hire moder..Bad that sche scholde..lerne forto weve and spinne. c1450J. Capgrave St. Gilbert l. 129 A conuerse of þat same ordre..sat stille in his craft weuyng. 1585E. D. Prayse of Nothing A ij b, For equity would not..that Arachne weaue in the frames of Minerua. 1608Shakes. Per. iv. vi. 194, I can sing, weaue, sow, and dance, with other vertues. 1781Cowper Truth 317 Yon cottager who weaves at her own door, Pillow and bobbins all her little store. 1818Min. Evid. Committee Ribbon Weavers 112 My father is a silk weaver; it is about twenty years since I first began to weave. 1828Carlyle Heyne Ess. 1840 II. 41 The poor cottage, where his father had weaved. 1917T. R. Glover From Pericles to Philip i. 17 [In Egypt] Women go to market and men stay at home and weave, and they weave down where others weave up.
fig.1622Fletcher Sp. Curate ii. i, They that pretend to wonders must weave cunningly.
3. trans. Of a spider, insect: To spin (a web, a cocoon). Also absol.
c1220Bestiary 468 Ðe spinnere..werpeð ðus hire web and weueð on hire wise. 1382Wyclif Isa. lix. 5 The webbis of an attercop thei wouen [v.r. weueden]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xi. (Bodl. MS.) Þe female leieþ egges and þereof comeþ smal spiþeres and þe modre setteþ hem to weue as sone as þei beþ yheiȝt. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 19269 As an yreyne wewyth a calle, To make fflyes there-in to ffalle. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 30 She..beganne to devyse & spynne a new webbe, lyke a spyder that dayly weveth when hys calle is torne. 1604Drayton Owle E 2 b, The spyders woue their webbs euen in his wings. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 111 Silke-wormes..infold themselues in a piece of silk they weaue of an ouall forme and yellow color. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 595 While ev'ry worm industriously weaves And winds his web about the rivell'd leaves.
fig.1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 340 My Brayne, more busie then the laboring Spider, Weaues tedious Snares to trap mine Enemies. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 159 He..Could twist as tough a Rope of Sand, And weave fine Cobwebs, fit for Skull That's empty when the Moon is full. 1850Tennyson In Mem. l, Men the flies of latter spring, That lay their eggs, and sting and sing And weave their petty cells and die.
4. To form a texture with (threads, filaments, strips of some material); to interlace or intertwine so as to form a fabric.
1538Elyot Dict., Licia, be thredes, whiche sylke women do weaue in lyncelles or stooles. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 46 The Spinsters and the Knitters in the Sun, And the free maides that weaue their thred with bones. 1608― Per. iv. Gower 21 When they weaude the sleded silke, With fingers long, small, white as milke. 1638H. Peacham Valley of Varietie 131 There remains fine hairie threds, like unto Flax, which are woven into cloth. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. x. 103 This while I sung, my Sorrows I deceiv'd, And bending Osiers into Baskets weav'd. 1789Massachusetts Spy 27 Aug. 3/2 A young lady of Milton lately spun 70 skeins of thread out of a pound of Cotton—which another young lady wove. 1808Forsyth Beauties Scot. V. 272 To send cotton yarn from the mills..into the remote glens of the Highlands, for the purpose of being weaved. 1877–80Gt. Industr. Gt. Brit. III. 212 Milligan..wove-in the silk white, and dyed the flowers their natural colour in the piece. a1908C. Bigg Orig. Chr. (1909) 459 The art of weaving flax had been introduced from Babylon.
b. To entwine or wreathe together.
1578[see intertex v.]. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 167 Citizens daughters..weare nothing vpon their heads but their haire wouen with laces, and so gathered on the fore-part of the head. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 57 The Grottoes cool, with shady Poplars crown'd, And creeping Vines on Arbours weav'd around. 1727[Dorrington] Philip Quarll (1816) 42 He bent the branches..and weaved them across one another. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxviii, Again at Christmas did we weave The holly round the Christmas hearth.
c. fig. To intermingle or unite closely or intimately as if by weaving; to work up into an elaborate and connected whole. Also with in.
1545Gardiner in Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 27 In the tragedy untruth is so maliciously weaved with truth [etc.]. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. i. 17 This weaves it selfe perforce into my businesse. 1637Rutherford Let. to Lady Kilconquhair 8 Aug., Is not this hell and heaven woven thorow other? 1638Sir T. Herbert (title), Some Yeares Travels..Describing especially the two famous Empires, the Persian, and great Mogull: weaved with the History of these later Times. 1690Locke Hum. Und. i. ii. §25 Can they receive and assent to adventitious Notions, and be ignorant of those, which are supposed woven into the very Principles of their Being..? 1711Addison Spect. No. 40 ⁋2 An Author might as well think of weaving the Adventures of æneas and Hudibras into one Poem. a1719― Evid. Chr. Relig. v. (1733) 42 When religion was woven into the civil government, and flourished under the protection of the Emperors. 1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. cxii, And for these words, thus woven into song, It may be that they are a harmless wile. 1862J. Martineau Ess. (1866) I. 203 Science weaves phenomena into unity. 1875Ouseley Mus. Form ix. 49 Put the melody in the bass, or in an inner part, and weave in a new melody with it in the upper part. c1904Bridges Voltaire Poems (1912) 381 Grave Dante weaving well His dark-eyed thought into a song divine.
d. intr. for refl. To become woven or interwoven. Also fig. rare.
1613–16W. Browne Brit. Past. i. ii. 30 The amorous Vine which in the Elme still weaues. 1849Lytton K. Arthur ii. lxxi, Tears weave with smiles to form the bridge to heaven!
e. intr. With quasi-passive sense: To admit of being woven.
1842R. Oastler Fleet Papers II. 26 It will not spin into good yarn, nor weave into wearable cloths.
† f. intr. to weave out: to become unwoven. nonce-use (suggested by the context). Obs.
1641Milton Reform. ii. 78 The government of Episcopacy, is now so weav'd into the common Law In Gods name let it weave out againe.
5. trans. To enmesh or entangle, to wrap up, as in a net, etc. In quots. fig.
1620[? G. Brydges] Horæ Subs. 394 And thus being wouen in their [Roman] nets, they be in a manner destitute of all possibility of recouery. 1869Lowell Study Wind., Condescension in Foreigners (1871) 43 The mind can weave itself warmly in the cocoon of its own thoughts.
6. To cause to move in a devious course; to direct (one's steps) in a devious or intricate course, as in dancing.
1650Heath Clarastella 11 Her steps with such an evenness she wove, As shee could hardly be perceiv'd to move. 1839De Quincey Mem. Grasmere Wks. 1890 XIII. 132 Sarah was going about the crowd, and weaving her person in and out. 1893K. D. Wiggin Cathedral Courtship 136 To weave that donkey and that Bath ‘cheer’ through the narrow streets..is a task for a Jehu.
b. To go through the intricate movements of (a dance).
1792Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 36 Weave the light dance and swell the choral song. 1862Neale Hymns East. Ch. 46 They..to that eternal Pascha Wove the dance and raised the strain.
Hence weaved ppl. a. = woven ppl. a. Also weaved-up.
1552Huloet, Weued, textus. 1561B. Googe tr. Palingenius' Zodiac vi. R vj, Lyke as the flye that smallest is in weued Cobweb hye. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 229 (Qo. 1608) And must I rauell out My weaud vp Folly?
▪ III. weave, v.2
Also 6 wheave, 7 weive.
[Continuation of ME. weve.]
1. a. intr. To move repeatedly from side to side; † to toss to and fro; to sway the body alternately to one side and the other; to pursue a devious course, thread one's way amid obstructions.
1596Spenser F.Q. v. iv. 10 Whilest thus amidst the billowes beating of her Twixt life and death, long to and fro she weaued [rhymes bereaued, deceaued]. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 146 Their fantasticall gestures exceed all barbarisme, continually weauing with their bodies, and often iumping vp-right (as is the manner in dauncing). 1682T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 72/4 By and by I saw him weaving from one side of the Pulpit to t'other. 1805Wordsw. Prelude vii. 700 Him who grinds The hurdy-gurdy, at the fiddle weaves, Rattles the salt-box [etc.]. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Weaving, moving backward and forward in a chair when uneasy or in trouble. ‘You're weaving your web of sorrow,’ is often said to any one so doing. A metaphor from the loom. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xx, The preacher..begun in earnest too; and went weaving first to one side of the platform and then the other. 1897Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Weave (American), to work along from one side to the other... A drunken man ‘weaves along’. 1898Crockett Standard Bearer ii. 14 Twenty or thirty dragoons were urging their horses forward in pursuit, weaving this way and that among the soft lairy places.
b. spec. of a horse or a wild animal in captivity: To move the head, neck, and body restlessly from side to side of the stall.
1831Youatt Horse xix. 345. 1869 Sir F. Fitzwygram Horses & Stables §194. 121 As a general rule, horses do not weave, unless they are tied up. 1934[implied in weaving vbl. n.2 2]. 1973G. Durrell Beasts in my Belfry vii. 140, I could only presume that he [sc. a buffalo doing a sort of waltz] put on this performance for the same reason that a lion paces up and down its cage or a polar bear or an elephant will weave from side to side—a soothing and interesting habit to pass the time till the next meal.
c. R.A.F. Of an aircraft or its pilot: to fly a devious course, usu. in attempting to avoid enemy planes or anti-aircraft fire. Also transf. (in this use slang).
1941Battle of Britain August–October 1940 (Min. of Information) 13 Enemy bomber formations were..protected by a box of fighters, some of which flew slightly above to a flank or in rear,..and..others weaving in and out between the sub-formations of the bombers. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 22, I took my Edgar Wallace from the billet and weaved out to the Nissen hut. 1943P. Brennan et al. Spitfires over Malta 26 The remaining four 110's at once broke, and began weaving, each steering a different course home. 1952[see predict v. 4]. 1973N. Monsarrat Kappillan of Malta 38 The sky above him seemed full of planes, weaving and circling like the flies in the wine-shop.
d. to get weaving, to apply oneself briskly to something; to ‘get a move on’. Cf. to get cracking s.v. crack v. 22 b. colloq. (orig. R.A.F.).
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 19 We'll knock that..place off the map. Get weaving. 1942T. Rattigan Flare Path iii. 83 We'd better get weaving, or we'll find this chemist feller has gone to lunch. 1948A. Baron From City, from Plough v. 36 There won' 'alf be a queue at the NAAFI... Let's get weaving. 1959M. Pugh Chancer 49 When he gets weaving, the dashboard ashtray does three thousand revs. 1964R. Braddon Year of Angry Rabbit i. 8 And this call's costing me a ruddy fortune so how's about you hang up and get weaving, eh? 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 185 Pack your night things in a small pack and get weaving, while I lay on transport.
2. trans. To move (the hand or something held by it) to and fro, up and down.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 404 Make the ointment to sinke wel into the flesh, by holding a hot broad barre ouer the place annointed, weauing your hand too and fro, vntil the ointment be entred into the skin. Ibid. 417 Hauing annointed all the raw places with this ointment, make it to sinke into the flesh, by holding and weauing vp and downe ouer it, a hot broad barre of yron.
3. To make a signal to (a ship or its occupants) by waving a flag or something used as a substitute. Also intr. with for.
1593P. Nichols Sir F. Drake Revived (1628) 27 He wheaued vs with his hat, and his long hanging sleeues to come a shoare. 1599Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 41 The nexte daye..he came to the sea sid, and weaved for a boate. 1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 566 Then shaking a pike of fire in defiance of the enemie, and weauing them amaine, we bad them come aboord: and an Englishman in the gallie made answer, that they would come aboord presently. 1622in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1908) II. 33 Which when they perceaved, they weived us with naked swords. 1628Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 59 Although I shott towardes them and weaued them to follow me.
4. Pugilism. (trans. and intr.) To creep close into (one's opponent) before delivering one's blow; to step in feinting and try to approach close to one's opponent in order to administer punishment. Also (? Obs.), to get (the adversary's head) ‘in chancery’.
1818Sporting Mag. (N.S.) II. 23 Spring held his opponent's hand..to prevent being weaved. Ibid., Painter..endeavoured to weave his antagonist. Ibid. III. 133 Neither were expert hands at weaving, and Martin was thrown. 1820P. Egan's Boxiana (1829) III. 397 The strength and skill of Belasco enabled him to hold up his opponent, and weave on, till he got Sampson down on both his knees. 1832P. Egan's Bk. Sports 26/2 In closing, Curtis captured his opponent's ‘knowledge-box’, and was endeavouring to weave it under his arms, but [etc.]. 1921Times 29 June 10/6 Defensively he [sc. Dempsey] is a much better boxer than one might easily suppose... His body sways as he weaves in and out, making him a very elusive target and very difficult to land on with a hard punch. |