| 释义 |
jackdaw|ˈdʒækdɔː|
[f. Jack n.1 38 b + daw. Formerly stressed jack-ˈdaw (in J. 1755, Walker 1791, Todd 1818; still in Scotl.) Ash 1775 has ˈJackdaw.]
1. The common name of the daw (Corvus monedula), one of the smallest of the crow family, which frequents old buildings, church towers, etc.; it is easily tamed and taught to imitate the sound of words, and is noted for its loquacity and thievish propensities.
1543Bale Course Rom. Foxe 87 Not all vnlyke vnto Isopes choughe, whom we commonlye call Iacke dawe. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 223 Some cackles like a Henne, or a Iacke Dawe. 1601Holland Pliny I. x. xxix. 285 Choughes and iack dawes: the veriest theeves..especially for silver and gold. 1672Wild Poet. Licent. 32 And may the Jack-daws still the Steeples hold. 1769G. White Selborne xxii. (1875) 75 Jackdaws building with us under the ground in rabbit-burrows. 1840Barham Ingol. Leg., Jackd. Rheims 12 In and out Through the motley rout That little Jackdaw kept hopping about. 1879Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 283 The jackdaw..could not keep silence to save his life, but must talk after his fashion.
b. A species of grackle or ‘blackbird’ (Quiscalus major) of the Southern United States.
1884Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 412 Boat-tailed Grackle, Jackdaw. Of large size, with long, much keeled and graduated tail.
2. fig. Applied contemptuously to a loquacious person.
1605Tryall Chev. ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 289 Bowyer a Captayne?..a very Jackdaw with his toung slit. 1719D'Urfey Pills I. 6 With City-Jack-daws; That make Staple-Laws, To measure by Yards and Ells.
3. attrib. and Comb., in reference to the Fable of the Jackdaw decked out with peacock's feathers, or to the furtive and secretive habits of the bird.
1739W. Melmoth Fitzosb. Lett. (1763) 49 Jack-daw poets with their stolen feathers. 1890Athenæum 19 Apr. 498/2 In the Bodleian Library, where they now rest, thanks to the jackdaw-like propensities of Mr. Secretary Pepys. |