| 释义 |
▪ I. whore, n.|hɔə(r)|
Forms: 1–6 hore, 2–3 heore, 4–6 hoore, houre, 5–6 hour, 6 howr(e, howir, hoare, 6–7 whoor(e, whoar, 6– whore; Sc. 4–6 huir, 4–7 (9 arch.) hure, (6 hwr, huire); in comb. 2–7 hor-, 5 hoer-, 6 hoor-, whure-, wor-, 6–7 whor-; Sc. 5–7 hur-, 6 huyr-, hwyr-.
[Late OE. hóre, corresp. to (M)LG. hóre, MDu. hoere (Du. hoer), OHG. huora (MHG. huere, G. hure), ON. hóra:—OTeut. *χōrōn-, f. root represented also by ON. hórr, Goth. hôrs adulterer, OFris. hôr (also overhôr, urhôr), OHG. huor, ON. hór adultery, MLG. horre, MDu. huerre, OHG. huorra adulterer (:—*χōrjon-), and OFris. (over)⁓hôra to fornicate, MDu. hoeren, OHG. huorôn (G. huren), ON. hóra, Goth. hôrinôn; Indo-Eur. qār- appears in L. cārus dear, OIr. cara friend, caraim I love, Lettish kārs lascivious.
From the late occurrence of OE. hóre, it may be inferred that it was a. ON. hóra, together with hór adultery, hórcwene (ON. hórkona) adulteress, hórdóm whoredom, hóring whoremonger being in that case an English formation from it with -ing3.
The pronunciation |hʊə(r)|, now dialectal, is the normal phonetic representative of OE. hóre; it was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries, and continued into the 19th century; Smart states that it ‘is by no means universal or even common, yet it is sanctioned by good authority, and may be adopted, as Walker says, when we wish to soften the coarse effect of a coarse word’. The variation of |hʊə(r)| and |hɔə(r)| is due to the presence of r; cf. moor |mʊə(r), mɔə(r)| and the modern tendency to substitute |ɔə| for |ʊə| in pure, sure, and the like.
For the spelling with wh, which became current in the 16th century, see wh.
Whore is now confined to coarse and abusive speech, except in occas. echoes of historical expressions, as the whore of Babylon. The compounds are for the most part obs. or arch.]
1. a. A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute, harlot.
a1100Aldhelm Gloss i. 2940 (Napier 79/2) Prostituta pellax, i. meretrix quæ prostat, i. mendax, leas fyrnhicᵹe, hore. Ibid. 3329. 89/1 Meretricum, horena. c1175Lamb. Hom. 103 He..maceð of cristes leoman heoranna leoman. [Cf. 1 Cor. vi. 15 Tollens Christi membra, faciam membra meretricis?] c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Ȝef þu..best rumhanded to glewmen and to hores. a1300Cursor M. 26855 Hore or okerer, or Iogolour, Bot þai þair mister wille forsak, For fals penantes men sal þam tak. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 310 Whanne tweyne horis stryvede whos was þe child þat lyvede. 1382― Luke xv. 30 This thi sone, which deuouride his substaunce with hooris. 1483Cath. Angl. 192/2 An Hure, vbi a common woman. 1546J. Heywood Prov. ii. vii. (1867) 71 Hop hoore, pipe theefe. 1595in Maitl. Club Misc. I. 73 Ane ressavear of huiris and harlottis in her hous. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 338 (Qo.) The whores cald him mandrake. 1632Lithgow Trav. ii. 68 Let men take heed of Lais, Corinths whoore. 1728Young Love Fame i. 67 The whore is proud her beauties are the dread Of peevish virtue, and the marriage-bed. 1894Kipling Seven Seas, The ‘Mary Gloster’ 76 Your rooms at college was beastly—more like a whore's than a man's.
b. More generally: An unchaste or lewd woman; a fornicatress or adulteress. to play the whore (of a woman), to commit fornication or adultery.
In early use often as a coarse term of abuse. Occas. (esp. with possessive) applied opprobriously to a concubine or kept mistress; also with distinguishing epithet to a catamite.
c1205Lay. 7028 Nes nan swa god wif i þon londe þe he walde..þet he ne makede hore. c1250Gen. & Ex. 4082 He sluȝ Zabri..Hise hore bi-neðe and him abuuen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5661 A fol womman in spousbruche he huld vnder is wif. Sein dunston him sede wel þat it was a luþer lif... Wroþ was þe king & is hore þat he hor folie wiþsede. c1440Gesta Rom. i. 2, I knowe well þat my wif is an hore. 1535in Lett. Suppr. Monast. (Camden) 58 The pope..gave hym licens to kepe an hore. 1535Coverdale Ezek. xvi. 28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assirians. 1547Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) I. 48 Marioun Ray amerciat for trubling of Agnes Hendersoun, calland hir huir and theiff. 1561Child-Marriages 78 Beynge demaundid why she did,..contrary to the Lawe of wedlocke, play the hoore. 1605Shakes. Lear i. iv. 137 Leaue thy drinke and thy whore. 1606― Tr. & Cr. v. i. 20 Ther... Thou art thought to be Achilles male Varlot. Patro... What's that? Ther. Why his masculine Whore. 1694Motteux Rabelais v. Pantagr. Prognost. 237 Ingles, Fricatrices, He-whores. 1727Gay Begg. Op. i. iv, Gamesters and Highwaymen are generally very good to their Whores, but they are very Devils to their Wives. 1749Chesterfield Let. to Son 7 Feb., Achilles..had so little regard for his country, that he would not act in defence of it, because he had quarrelled with Agamemnon about a w―e. 1817Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1160 Calling a married woman or a single one a whore is not actionable, because fornication and adultery are subjects of spiritual not temporal censures. [Referring to a case, an. 1703, in Raymond's Rep. (1743) 1004.]
transf.1575Gammer Gurton i. iii, Gyb, our cat, in the milke-pan she spied..‘Ah, hore! out, thefe!’ she cryed aloud. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 745 Their Epithites..attributed vnto them [sc. wolves] among seueral Authors are..demonstrations of their disposition; as sowre, wilde,..fierce, bold, greedy, whoare, flesh-eater.
c. A male prostitute; any promiscuous or unprincipled person. (Esp. as a term of abuse.)
1633[see worm n. 10 b]. 1906J. Joyce Let. 19 Aug. (1966) II. 152 He began to shout..when the lazy whores of priests began to chant. 1957P. Kemp Mine were of Trouble vi. 108 Lyall would interrupt with..‘But surely you can't expect the Irish to be any use in Spain? There aren't any hedges here for them to shoot from behind.’.. Lawler would storm out, shouting: ‘Ye great buckin' whore!’ 1968E. Gaines in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 103 ‘You hear me whore?’ ‘I might be a whore, but I'm not a merciless killer,’ he said. 1976New Yorker 12 Jan. 73/2 Gig Young can play the top whore in ‘The Killer Elite’ because his sad eyes suggest that he has no expectations and no illusions left about anything.
2. fig.; spec. in biblical use, applied to a corrupt or idolatrous community (cf. whoredom 2), and hence in controversial use, esp. in phr. the whore of Babylon, to the Church of Rome (in allusion to Rev. xvii. 1, 5, etc.).
1382Wyclif Nahum iii. 4 The hoore fair and able [1611 wel-fauoured harlot],..whiche solde folkis in her fornycaciouns. ― Rev. xvii. 1 The dampnacioun of the greet hoore [1611 Whore; R.V. 1881 harlot],..with whiche kynges of erthe diden fornycacioun. 1530Tindale Pract. Prelates F v b, The greate baude the hore of babylon [sc. the Pope]. c1540Pilgr. T. 342 in Thynne's Animadv. (1875) 86 Of antichristes fall I will..sum-thing tell; & of this howr, this leyder to hell. 1545Brinklow Compl. xiii. (1874) 30 That abhomynable whore of Babylon (Rome I meane). 1632Lithgow Trav. iv. 139, I may say of Constantinople..; A painted Whoore. c1640in Maidment Sc. Pasquils (1868) 132 So you to Christian Kings shall break the ground, To loath the scarlet whoor. c1646Milton Sonn., On new Forcers Consc. 3 Because you have thrown of your Prelate Lord,..To seise the widdow'd whore Pluralitie. 1684Southerne Disappointm. ii. i, But if her thoughts run foul, her mind's a Whore. 1704C. Leslie Wolf Stript (ed. 4) 31 They call her Episcopacy a Ragg of the Whore. 1743H. Walpole Let. to Mann 3 Oct., He would have piqued himself on calling the Pope the w―e of Babylon. 1818Scott Rob Roy xix, Image worship, and surplices, and sic like rags o' the muckle hure that sitteth on seven hills.
3. † whore's son, son of a whore = whoreson. whore's bird (also as one word, and dial. wosbird): properly, the child [see bird n. 1 c] of a whore, a bastard; but usually as a mere vulgar term of abuse or reprobation. So whore's kitling.
c1500Melusine 300 He cryed with a hye voys,..‘hourys sone & fals geaunt, comme speke with me!’ 1673J. W[ade] Vinegar & Mustard (1873) 17 Thou was a base whore's bird. 1675Char. of Town-Gallant 5 He admires the Eloquence of, Son of a Whore,..and therefor applyes it to every thing; So that if his Pipe be faulty,..Tis a Son of a Whore Pipe. 1694Echard Plautus 9 They'd set some sturdy Whores-bird to..beat out ha'f a dozen o' my Teeth. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Whores-kitling, a Bastard. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 21 Another Son of a Whore yells louder than Homer's Stentor. 1701Sedley Grumbler i. i, I will first let you see how I am serv'd by this whoresbird. 1772Graves Spir. Quix. iv. ix, D—mn you all together, for a pack of whores-birds as you are! 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. ii, ‘Imp'dent old wosbird!’ says he, ‘I'll break the bald head on un.’ 1891Hardy Tess xxi, Jack Dollop, a 'hor's-bird of a fellow.
4. Comb., as whore-call, whore-haunter; whore-like adj.; whore-hunt v., intr. to go after whores, practise fornication: so whore-hunter, whore-hunting (also fig.; in quot. 1714, spying after whores to extort hush-money); † whore-keeper, one who keeps company with whores, a fornicator; † whore-man, a fornicator; whoremistress, a brothel-keeper; † whore-play [play n. 6 c], intercourse with whores, fornication; whore's egg N. Amer. (chiefly Newfoundland) = sea-urchin 1; whore-shop slang, a brothel; whore-sty (nonce-wd.), a brothel; † whore-toll, a payment made by way of compounding for fornication or concubinage.
a1692Shadwell Volunteers v. i, These Fiddles are Fop-Calls, and *Whore-Calls.
1580Orders for Orphanes A iv, If any manchilde be a Thiefe, or a Fellon, or a common *whore haunter.
1597Beard Theatre God's Judgem. ii. xx. (1612) 358 He went apart into Auignion, and there staied of purpose to doe nothing but *whore-hunt. 1786Burns Twa Dogs 164 He..Whore-hunting amang groves o' myrtles.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 666/1 Scortatores, which signifieth in englishe *whoore hunters. 1600W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 81 A notorious drunkard, whorehunter, cousiner, vsurer, &c.
1532Frith Mirror (1533) A v b, Yf..the watcheman be a slepe,..or gone..a *whorehuntinge. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. ii. 124 That is spirituall adulterie & whore-hunting, when men doe partly loue and worship God, and yet..giue reuerence to straunge..Gods. 1620Westward for Smelts (Percy Soc.) 44 Her husband..had used to goe on whore-hunting in the night. 1714Ramsay Elegy on J. Cowper iii, Of Whore-hunting he gat his Fill, And made be 't mony a Pint and Gill. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad i. 15 Lovelorn poets..troop whore-hunting down the country lanes.
1530Tindale Pract. Prel. B iij b, If any synne agenst y⊇ doctrine of Christ..so yt he be a dronckarde & an *horekeper. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 68 There shall not be a whore among the daughters of Israell, nor a whore⁓keeper among the sonnes of Israel.
1550Crowley Epigr. 1288 Our wiues do passe their whoris in *whorelyke deckynge. 1974H. J. Parker View from Boys 213 ‘A right scrubber’ is a girl who's rough-looking, whorelike.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 4072 Ðo seide god to moysen, Ðe meistres of ðise *hore-men,..Ðe bidde ic hangen ðat he ben.
1922Joyce Ulysses 515 Bella Cohen, a massive *whoremistress enters. 1969A. Marin Rise with Wind xii. 154 Consejo..works for a whoremistress we call Tía Concha.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 530 Caymes sunes wroȝten vn-laȝe, Wið breðere wifes *hore-plaȝe.
1829T. C. Haliburton Hist. & Statist. Acct. Nova Scotia II. ix. 405 Shell fish. *Whore's egg. 1930Amer. Speech V. 393 Whore's egg,..a small spring crustacean esteemed by the Italians as a delicacy. 1948Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee 296 That damn whore's egg! Ruin you if only one spine gets into your hand. 1972E. Staebler Cape Breton Harbour ix. 85 You be careful when you's swimming that you don't step on a whore's egg, they sea urchins is full o' prickles will give you a fester.
1938V. S. Pritchett You make your own Life 79 What a town like this wants is a couple of good *whore shops and a factory. 1972A. MacVicar Golden Venus Affair vi. 67, I hate The Golden Venus... It's just a whoreshop.
1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 196 [Churches] turne[d] to barnes, stables, hogsties, and that which is worse, *whore-sties.
1545Coverdale Def. Chr. Man E ij b, Romishe prestes..take harlottes..whan they will,..and aske no question for conscience sake, so that they paye the bishope the *whore toll.
▪ II. whore, v.
[f. prec. n.]
1. a. intr. To have to do with a whore or whores; to commit whoredom, fornicate; (of a woman) to play the whore. Also fig. (See also whoring.)
1583Babington Commandm. (1590) 178 Wee drinke, wee eate, wee surfet, wee sweare, wee play, wee daunce, wee whore. 1615Goddard Neaste of Waspes G iv b, Sheel fight, whore, drinke, vntill shee cannot see. 1642Bridge Serm. Norwich Volunteers 5 They thinke him a foole or a child that will not drink and be drunke, and whore. 1682Shadwell Sat. to Muse 238 Against the Court, and David's-self he Roard, How ill he Govern'd, and how worse he W―d. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §13 To cheat, whore, betray, get drunk, do all these things decently, this is true wisdom, and elegance of taste. 1766Midnight Spy v. 43 The gay courtezan with her pockets lined with gold, may whore with impunity. 1896Kipling Seven Seas, Song Engl. iii, Hold ye the Faith..; Whoring not with visions.
b. trans. To spend in whoring; (with adv.) to get or bring by whoring.
1681S. Colvil Whig's Supplic. (1710) 53 Their Officers..Had dic'd and drunk, and whor'd their Pay. 1682A. Behn City-Heiress i. i, A man might whore his heart out.
c. intr. fig. To pursue or seek after (something false or unworthy). In allusion to Exod. xxxiv. 15. Cf. whoring vbl. n. (quot. 1535).
1913E. Pound Let. 13 Aug. (1971) 21 The unspeakable vulgo will I suppose hear of him [sc. F. M. Hueffer] after our deaths. In the meantime they whore after their Bennetts and their Galsworthys and their unspeakable canaille. 1937J. M. Murry Necessity of Pacificism 24 The intelligence of Socialism went a-whoring after the strange gods of Russia. 1970R. Long in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 421 The University was whoring after strange gods, they all seemed to say: technology, athletics, materialism. 1972Language XLVIII. 425, I do not accept Chomsky's conception of social scientists as universally whoring after the surface features of other sciences, neglecting all fundamental problems, and taking refuge in spurious precision and trivialities.
2. trans. To make a whore of; to corrupt by illicit intercourse; to debauch (a woman). Also fig. Now rare.
1602Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 64 He that hath kil'd my King, and whor'd my Mother. 1682Dryden Medal 258 The Pander of the Peoples hearts,..Whose blandishments a Loyal Land have whor'd, And broke the Bonds she plighted to her Lord. a1692Shadwell Volunteers iii. i. (1693) 32 Did you mean to whore my Daughter? 1740Richardson Pamela (1741) II. 224 She ask'd her,..if I was whor'd yet! There's a Word for a Lady's Mouth! 1969A. Hunter Gently Coloured iii. 33 Some friend squeezing you dry, whoring your sister.
▪ III. whore
obs. form of hoar, where. |