| 释义 |
whalebone, n.|ˈhweɪlbəʊn|
Forms: see whale n. and bone n.; also 4 huelbon, 7 whel-, whal-, whealbone, quhallbon; (in sense 1) whales bone, etc.
†1. Ivory from the walrus or some similar animal confused with the whale: chiefly in phr. white as whale's bone. Obs.
c1205Lay. 2363 Þe walles of stone, þe duren of whales bone [c 1275 wales bone]. a1310in Wright Lyric P. xi. 38 A wayle whyt as whalles bon. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 212 Her ble more blaȝt þen whallez bon. a1400Sqr. lowe Degre 537 Lady, as whyte as whales bone. 1467Paston Lett. II. 298 But yef ye purposid to falle hastely in my Lady Anne P. lappe, as white as whales bon, &c. c1520Skelton Garl. Laurel 472 An hundred steppis mountyng to the halle, One of iasper, another of whalis bone. 1567Turberv. Epit., etc. 138 Hir Mouth so small, hir Teeth so white as any Whale his bone. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 332 This is the flower that smiles on euerie one, To shew his teeth as white as Whales bone. 1590Greene Never too Late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 213 Legges as white as whales bone. 1610Tofte Hon. Acad. iv. 162 Her hands were white, as Whale his bone. 1848Kingsley Saint's Trag. iii. i, Purer than white whales' bone.
β13..Coer de L. 62 All it was whyt of huel-bon. c1400Destr. Troy 3055 Alse qwyte & qwem as any qwalle bon. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxi. 46 Toungis now are maid of quhyte quhaill bone, And hairtis ar maid of hard flynt stone.
2. The elastic horny substance which grows in a series of thin parallel plates in the upper jaw of certain whales in place of teeth; baleen: used esp. for stiffening parts of the dress, etc.
Formerly supposed to be obtained from the whale's fins.
1604Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1887) I. 107 For whelbone to ye bodes ixd. 1613Voy. Spitzbergen in Archæol. Amer. (1860) IV. 311 They cut of his head, containing his toung and his finnes, commonlie called whalbone. 1711Addison Spect. No. 127 ⁋4 A Female who is thus invested in Whale⁓bone is sufficiently secured against the Approaches of an ill-bred Fellow. 1712Budgell ibid. 277 ⁋8 The Petticoat has no Whale-bone. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 457 Fifteen feet is the greatest length of the whalebone. 1878J. W. Hayes Draper & Haberd. (ed. 4) 87 Stay Whale⁓bone is prepared and cut into suitable lengths for corsets. Ibid., Dress Whalebone is sold in lengths varying between 27 in. and 54 in. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. xi. 390 At a Christmas party, [she] acted any part—that depended on whalebone [i.e. stays]—admirably.
3. a. A strip of whalebone, esp. used as stiffening in women's stays, dresses, etc.
1601[? Marston] Jack Drums Entert. iv. F 4, Oh I could crack my Whalebones, breake my Buske, to think what laughter may arise from this. a1635Corbet Iter Bor. 391 She was barr'd up in Whale-bones that did leese None of the Whales length, for they reach'd her knees. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 107 If they fish with a Cane or Whale⁓bone. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock v. 40 Fans clap, silks rustle, and tough whalebones crack. 1871Figure Training 106 In order to insure a good fit, and to keep it perfectly in place, the busk in front, and the whalebones behind, are made somewhat longer than the present fashion.
b. A riding-whip of whalebone.
1842S. Lover Handy Andy iii, Smarting under a sense of injury and whalebone. 1867A. L. Gordon Poems (1912) 96 Ah! there goes Fred's whalebone a flanker.
4. The jaw-bone of a whale. (Cf. G. walfischbein.)
1846R. E. Egerton-Warburton Hunting Songs viii. 25 Where 'twixt the whalebones the widow [sc. Maria Hollingsworth, a German by birth] sat down.
5. a. attrib. and Comb., as whalebone-cutter, whalebone-kind, whalebone-man; whalebone-hair, the hairy fringe of whalebone; whalebone-tree, an Australian urticaceous tree, Pseudomorus brunoniana; whalebone-whale, a whale of the family Balænidæ, having plates of whalebone developed from the palate instead of teeth; a right whale.
1761Brit. Mag. II. 672 Philip Benton, of Gainsborough,..*whalebone-cutter and merchant.
1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 451 Large shreds of old thin canvas, *whalebone-hair, and a quantity of ashes.
1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. i. iii. (1743) 331 Great whales of the Baleen, or *whale bone kind.
a1637B. Jonson Underwoods lx. Wks. (1641) 208 The *whale-bone man That quilts those bodies, I have leave to span.
1889J. H. Maiden Useful Pl. Australia 591 Pseudomorus Brunoniana,..called *Whalebone Tree in Southern New South Wales. 1725*Whalebone whale [see whale n. 1 b (b)]. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 272/2 The Toothless or Whalebone Whales.
b. as adj. Stiffened with strips of whalebone; made of or containing whalebone; also fig., ‘stiff’, affected.
1601B. Jonson Poetaster ii. i. (1905) 28 Your whale-bone-bodies. 1603in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 31 Ane par of quhallbon bodis. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 193 And to that end..shut up their Wastes in a Whale-bone prison. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 10 Nov., Have you got the whalebone petticoats among you yet?..a woman here may hide a moderate gallant under them. 17..in Lyra Elegant. (1867) l. 3 Last Sunday at St. James's prayers I, drest in all my whale-bone airs. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Good Fr. Gov., A few words in defence of sacks, long waists, and whalebone stays. 1807W. Irving Salmag. No. 6 (1811) I. 119 A plentiful stock of whims, and oddities, and whalebone habits. 1866Le Fanu All in Dark lxviii, To make his bow before the world in the picturesque long robe and whalebone wig which everyone of taste admires. 1908[Eliz. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 382 A light umbrella was one not made with whalebone ribs.
Hence whaleboned |ˈhweɪlbəʊnd| pa. pple. and ppl. a., stiffened with whalebone; ˈwhaleboning, a beating with a piece of whalebone (sense 3).
1641J. Day Parl. Bees (1881) 29 Such whale-bon'd-bodied rascals. 1835Court Mag. VI. p. vii/2 A mantelet..whale⁓boned in such a manner as to prevent it from crushing the dress. 1851H. Melville Moby Dick I. xxx. 205 Only a whaleboning that he gave me—not a base kick. 1908E. Wharton Hermit, etc. iv. 150 A laced, whaleboned, frizzle-headed, high-heeled daughter of iniquity. |