| 释义 |
▪ I. willow, n.|ˈwɪləʊ|
Forms: α. 1 weliᵹ, 5 weleygh; 5 Sc. pl. willeis, 4–5 wilghe, wylghe, 6 wylly(e, -ie, 6, 9 dial. willie, willy, 8 willi- (9 -ey, wullie, -y); 7 wilfe, 8– dial. wilf. β. 4 welew, 5 welogh, 5–6 welowe; 4 wilewe, 4–5 wilw(e, wylw(e, wyl(o)ugh, (whilwh), wil(l)ou, wylo, wyllo, wilowe, 5–6 wylow(e, (whylowe), 6 willo, wyllow(e, -ough, 7 willough, 5– willow.
[OE. weliᵹ f., corresp. to Fris. wylch, wil(l)ig, OLG. wilgia (LG. wilge), MDu. wilge (Du. wilg), MHG. wilge; f. Teut. walg-, welg-, whence also OE. wiliᵹe willy n.1
The form-history is obscure, partly from the fact that examples of the word are not forthcoming for the period between late OE. and the 14th century, when the immediate precursor of the present form, viz. wilwe, is already established, instead of the normal representative of OE. weliᵹ, which would be *welly. The change in the root-syllable may be due to willy n.1 (OE. wiliᵹe), or an OE. *wiliᵹ may have existed; for the terminal syllable cf. bellows beside belly (OE. beliᵹ), fellow beside felly (OE. feliᵹ). The type willy survives dial.]
I.
1. a. Any plant of the genus Salix, which consists of trees and shrubs of various sizes, widely distributed in temperate and cold regions, growing for the most part by the side of watercourses, characterized by very pliant branches and long narrow drooping leaves, and valued economically as furnishing osiers, a light smooth and soft wood, or a medicinal astringent bark, or grown ornamentally by the side of water.
αa750Blickl. Glosses in O.E. Texts 123 In salicibus, on welᵹum. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 156 Weliᵹes leaf wylle on wætere. a1340Hampole Psalter cxxxvi[i]. 2 In þe wylghes in þe myddis of hit. c1400tr. Secr. Secr., Gov. Lordsh. 81 Þat he haue weleyghes and myrt. 14..Liber pauperum in MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, lf. 295 (Hall.) Tak the bark of wilghe that is bitwene the tre and the utter barke. 1473Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 178 Plantation of willeis. 1483Cath. Angl. 418/1 A Wylght [sic], salix. 1535Coverdale Lev. xxiii. 40 Wyllies of the broke. ― Isa. xliv. 4 The Willies by the waters side. [1641wilfe: see willow-tree.]
βc1325Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 163 Sauz [glossed wytie; Camb. MS. wilwe; All Souls MS. withe or wilghe]. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 659 Sauce..Welew. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2064 Wylugh [v.rr. Wylow, Wylw, Willow]. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 365 At Glyndalkan..wilewys bereþ apples as it were appel treen. 14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 716/19 Hec salix, a welogh. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 15178 Som whilwh ful off levys grene. c1450Cokwolds Daunce x. in Hartshorne Anc. Metr. T. (1829) 212 Garland of wylos sculd be fette, And sett vpon his hed. 1546Supplic. Poore Commons (1871) 78 A christalline ryuer garnished with wyllouse. 1634Milton Comus 891 By the rushy-fringed bank, Where grows the Willow and the Osier dank. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1275 Plaintive breeze, that play'd Among the bending willows. 1784Cowper Task i. 268 The willows dip Their pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink. 1818Keats Endym. i. 43 While the willow trails Its delicate amber. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn ii, The old willows by the river.
b. The wood or osiers of any tree of this genus.
c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 517 He..toke the balke..as lightly as it had be som pece of welowe. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 491 Willowes..Whereof..there be Baskets made. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 15 The pressure of the external air will then force the mercury through the pores of the hazel or willow.
c. in allusive use with reference to pliability.
1832Macaulay Ess., Burleigh ⁋4 Burleigh, like the old Marquess of Winchester, who preceded him in the custody of the White Staff, was of the willow, and not of the oak. 1847Emerson Poems, Musketaquid 70, I am a willow of the wilderness, Loving the wind that bent me. 1910J. D. Moffat Paul & Paulinism 24 Barnabas was of the willow rather than of the oak order.
d. Taken as a symbol of grief for unrequited love or the loss of a mate; esp. in phr. to wear (the) willow, the willow garland (see 6 d), or the green willow: to grieve for the loss of a loved one.
1584Lyly Sappho ii. iv, Peace miserable wretch, enioy thy care in couert, weare willow in thy hatte, and baies in thy hart. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 10 In such a night Stood Dido with a Willow in her hand Vpon the wilde sea bankes. 1597Breton Wit's Trenchmour Wks. (Grosart) II. 20 Some dolefull Ballad, to the tune of all a greene willow. 1603Dekker & Chettle Grissil v. ii, Bring me a crown of gold to crown my loue; A wreath of willow for dispised Grissill. 1604Shakes. Oth. iv. iii. 51 Sing all a greene Willough must be my Garland. 1625Fletcher & Shirley Nt. Walker i. i, We see you'r willow and are sorry for't. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. v. i, You may cry willow, willow for your brother. 1668Dryden Secret Love v. i, If you had not forsaken me, I had you: so the Willows may flourish for any branches I shall rob 'em of. 1678D'Urfey Fool turn'd Critick ii. ii. 19 Lady A...so that for his sake I quitted all the rest. Pen. And left them Willowes. 1714Gay Sheph. Week Thurs. 134 Nor shall she crown'd with willow die a maid. 1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1080 ‘She is in her willows’..implies the mourning of a female for her lost mate. 1885K. S. Macquoid At Red Glove vi. i, There's..Marie..wearing the willow because..Engemann is away courting Madam Carouge.
2. a. With qualification denoting a particular species or variety of the genus Salix: see quots. and almond w. (almond 10), crack-willow, goat w. (goat n. 4 b), ground w. (ground n. 18 c), rose w. (rose n. 23 b), sage w. (sage n.1 6 b), sallow w. (sallow n. 4), † stake w. (stake n.1 7), swamp w. (swamp n. 3 c), sweet w. (sweet C. 1 b), weeping willow, whipcord w. (whipcord n. 3). Cf. osier and sallow n.
1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 202 Weeping and drooping trees... *Babylonian willow (Salix Babylonica).
1847Darlington Amer. Weeds etc. (1860) 328 S[alix] viminalis..Osier. *Basket Willow.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Salix, The *Bay-leav'd Sweet Willow.
1841Penny Cycl. XX. 360/1 Salix Russelliana, Russell or *Bedford willow.
1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 161 Salix discolor (*bog willow).
1650[W. Howe] Phytol. Brit. 107 Salix angustifolia pumila; In uliginosis. *Dwarf-Willow.
1857Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 111 This species is sometimes called the *Golden Willow (Salix chrysantha), on account of the beautiful golden catkins which in May and June ornament its boughs.
1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 202 *Kilmarnock willow (Salix caprea, var. pendula).
1841Penny Cycl. XX. 360/2 Salix purpurea, *purple willow.
1842Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 10. 7 The *tree willow (Salix caprea).
1597Gerarde Herbal iii. li. 1203 Salix aquatica. The Oziar, or *water Willow.
1640Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1430 Salix arborea angustifolia alba vulgaris... Our ordinary *white Willow groweth quickely to be a great and tall tree. 1882Garden 9 Sept. 227/3 The wood of the white Willow..is always in request.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 48 Salix myrsinites..*Whortle leaved Willow.
1841Penny Cycl. XX. 360/2 Salix vitellina, the *yellow willow.
b. Extended, with qualification, to plants of other genera having some resemblance to the willow: see quots.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 41 Halimus..may be called in englishe sea wyllowe or prickwylowe because it hath the leaues of a wylowe and prickes lyke a thorne. 1597Gerarde Herbal iii. lxviii. 1228 Gaule, sweete Willow, or Dutch Myrtle tree. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 331 Willow, Spiked, of Theophrastus, Spiræa. 1866J. E. Brogden Prov. Wds. Lincs., Roman Willow, a garden plant, Syringa cœruleo flore. 1866Treas. Bot., Willow... Golden. A Madeira name for Genista scoparia...—, Primrose. A West Indian name for Œnothera. 1875Ibid. Suppl., Willow, Australian. Geijera parviflora. —, Water, of the United States. Dianthera americana. 1889J. H. Maiden Useful Plants Australia 306 Acacia calamifolia, Willow, or Broom Wattle.
c. With qualification bay, flowering, French, Persian: the willow-herb, Epilobium angustifolium.
1633Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. cxxix. 479 Chamænerium is called of Gesner, Epilobion: in English, Bay Willow. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 386 French Willow. 1857Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. II. 280 E[pilobium] angustifolium (Rose Bay, or Flowering Willow). 1866Treas. Bot., Willow..Persian, Epilobium angustifolium.
II.
†3. = willy n.1 2. Obs.
1385–6City of London Rec., Pleas & Mem. Rolls Roll 27 A m. 28 (MS.) Grant destruccion de pesson par engyns appeles Wilwes. 1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (W. de W.) Y iij, For flesshe rostyd crabbes come in to wylowes [Add. MS. wyles] & pytches. a1555Philpot tr. Curio's Def. Christ's Ch. Wks. (Parker Soc. 1842) 385 Many unclean and damnable persons is contained in this church, which we behold as it were fishes of all sorts in a fisher's trunk or willo.
4. = willy n.1 3.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 164 Blowing and lapping machines..are universally employed for cleaning and opening cotton after it has passed through the willow. 1877–80Gt. Industr. Gt. Brit. I. 229 The conical self-acting willow, invented by Mr. Lillie, of Manchester. 1891Marsden Cotton Spinning (ed. 4) 85 The spikes on the cylinder and casing of the willow.
5. A cricket-bat (made of willow-wood). Similarly, the bat at baseball. Cf. King Willow s.v. king n. 6 b.
1846J. Martin in Frederick Lillywhite's Cricket Scores & Biographies (1863) III. 442 And now the ‘willow’ see them wield. 1866Le Fanu All in Dark xxxiv, He handles the willow pretty well. 1869Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 639, I had my turn at the ‘willow’. 1876in Box Engl. Game Cricket (1877) 414 Willow the King is a monarch grand, Three in a row his courtiers stand.
III. 6. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as willow band, willow bark, willow bed, willow bottom, willow bush, willow dust, willow gall (gall n.3), willow garth, willow ground, willow grove, willow head, willow hedge, willow holt, willow hoop, willow island, willow rind, willow row, willow shadow, willow swamp, willow top, willow tribe, willow twig, willow walk, willow wand, willow withe, willow wood; made of willow-wood, as willow-cylinder, willow polisher. b. Instrumental, parasynthetic, objective, and similative, as willow-bordered, willow-coloured, willow-fringed, willow-grown, willow-leaved, willow-like, willow-lined, willow-shaded, willow-tufted, willow-veiled adjs.; willow-peeler. c. Special Combs.: willow bay, Salix pentandra; willow-branch, a branch of a willow-tree; also allusively as in 1 d; willow curtain (see quot.); willow-earth, compost made of rotten willow-branches; † willow-flower = willow-herb 2; willow gentian, a herbaceous perennial, Gentiana asclepiadea, native to Europe and bearing deep blue or white flowers in axils along its curving stems; willow-green, a variety of green resembling the colour of willow-leaves; willow grouse, (a) the common ptarmigan of North America, Lagopus albus; (b) the ruffed grouse, Bonasa umbellus, called thus chiefly in British Columbia; willow-lark, the sedge-warbler; willow leaf, a leaf of the willow-tree, or a figure resembling this; pl. the luminous filaments of the sun's surface; also as adj. = willow-leaved adj., sense 6 b; willow-leaved pear(-tree), a tree, Pyrus salicifolia, that is related to the pear and is native to S.E. Europe and Asia Minor, bearing long narrow leaves and small fruit and often thorny; willow myrtle, a myrtaceous willow-leaved tree (Agonis flexuosa) of Western Australia; willow-nightingale local, the reed-sparrow; willow oak, a North American oak, Quercus Phellos, having narrow entire leaves like those of the willow; also, the laurel oak, Q. laurifolia; willow partridge, = willow-grouse; willow pattern, a pattern of domestic crockery in blue, orig. designed by Thomas Turner in the late 18th century, having willow-trees as a prominent feature; hence willow-patterned a.; willow ptarmigan = willow-grouse; willow-sparrow = willow-warbler; willow sheets, squares, pieces of plaited willow for hat-making; willow-thorn, sea-buckthorn, Hippophaë rhamnoides; willow tit (mouse), a black-headed, buff-coloured European tit, Parus montanus (formerly P. atricapillus); willow-warbler, a small bird, Sylvia trochilus; willow-ware, (a) crockery-ware of a willow pattern; (b) articles woven from osiers; willow weapon, a cricket-bat; willow weed = willow-herb 2, 3; also, various species of Polygonum, knotweed; willow-wielder, a batsman at cricket; willow-wort, = willow-herb 1, 3; also pl., Lindley's name for the willow family; willow-wren, = willow-warbler. Also in several names of insects or their larvæ which infest willows, as willow-beauty (Boarmia rhomboidaria), -bee (Megachile willughbeia); -beetle (spec. Phyllodecta vitellinæ), -butterfly, -caterpillar, -cimbex, † -cricket, -fly (any insect of the family Perlidæ), -moth (Caradrina quadripunctata), -sawfly, -slug (larva of the sawfly), -worm.
1819Shelley Cyclops 203 My young lambs coupled two by two With *willow bands.
1836J. M. Gully Magendie's Formul. (ed. 2) 193 *Willow-bark having been frequently employed against intermittent fevers.
1650[W. Howe] Phytol. Brit. 108 Salix folio laureo,..*Willow-bay.
1832Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 111 The *Willow Beauty..appears the beginning of July, in woody places and gardens.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Bimbrera, a *willow bed.
1897Watts-Dunton Aylwin vii. i, A winding, *willow-bordered river.
1807P. Gass Jrnl. 51 Passed a *willow bottom on the south side, and a creek on the north. 1962W. Stegner Wolf Willow i. i. 12, I see a black iron bridge, new, that evidently leads some new road off into the willow bottoms.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. ii. i. Song, Maidens, *Willow branches bear; say I died true. 1830Tennyson Dying Swan 37 The willow-branches hoar and dank. 1860Trollope Framley P. xxx, I have been overwhelmed with presents of willow branches.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xvii, It was bordered by a line of *willow-bushes.
1773B. Wilkes Engl. Moths 58 The *Willow-Butterfly.
c1633in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 68 The *willow colored satten suite.
1799G. Smith Laboratory II. 300 *Willow-cricket, or small peacock fly.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Willow Curtain,..a device to curb the rapidity of streams and induce deposit of sediment.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Layers, Mould, mix'd with a little rotten *Willow-dust.
1683J. Reid Scots Gard'ner (1907) 69 *Willow-earth or rotten willow-sticks at the bottom of the pot, helps to retain the moisture. 1799G. Smith Laboratory II. 143 A little willow-earth is very proper to mix with the above compost.
1633Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. cxxix. 477 Chamænerion alterum angustifolium. Narrow leaued *Willow-floure.
1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 119 The *Willow-Fly comes on about the beginning of September.
1749Warton Tri. Isis 6 O'er Isis' *willow-fringed banks I stray'd. 1870Kingsley At Last xiii, Certain alder and willow-fringed reaches of the Thames.
1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 231 Trotting on to the small *willow garth near Clifford [Yorkshire]. 1857Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 93 Osier-holts or Willow-garths, as such grounds are called in Yorkshire.
1883W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden 136/1 *Willow Gentian prefers a sheltered position. 1935C. Elliott Rock Garden Plants 123 The Willow Gentian of sub-alpine woods, grows two feet high, with arched wiry stems, strung along their upper half with fine blue trumpet-flowers. 1962R. Page Education of Gardener xiii. 357, I may choose Gentiana asclepiadea, the willow gentian.
1672W. Hughes Amer. Physitian 28 A more blewish green colour, much like the colour called a *Willow-green. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3906/4 A Piece Ditto, striped with Willow-green and small Orange or Philamot. 1832T. Brown Bk. Butterfl. & M. (1834) I. 172 Of a pale willow-green above.
1608Merry Devil Edmonton iii. ii, Heere in the walke neere to the *willow ground.
1849D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 311 The *willow grouse on the rock crows his challenge aloud. 1907J. G. Millais Newfoundland 274 The Newfoundland willow grouse..fly in large bodies from one district to another. 1960Gulf Islander (Galiano, B.C.) 23 July 1/1 We listened to the resonant call of the willow grouse. 1961W. P. Keller Canada's Wild Glory ii. 93 The grouse came back, too. These were the willow grouse, or as the same bird is known in the east, ‘the drummer’ or ruffed grouse.
1552Huloet, *Willow groue, salicetum. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 17 Meddowe, Wood Lande, and Wyllowe Groues. 1855Singleton Virgil, Georgics ii. 575 The wild willow-grove.
1871Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 265 A sandy plain somewhat *willow-grown.
1798Act 38 Geo. III c. v. §2 Any *Willow Heads, Loppings of Pollard or Doddard Trees.
1805Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Plate xxxi, A protection of *willow-hedge, raised by setting the stakes.
1832Boston, Linc. etc. Herald 13 Nov. 4/3 Secreted in a *willow holt..in Holland Fen.
1697J. Puckle New Dial. 18 Nor do We in England (as you [the Dutch]) want *Willow Hoops from Hamburgh.
1814Brackenridge Jrnl. in Views Louisiana 204 Having passed a small *willow island.
1769G. White Selborne, To Pennant 29 May, A new salicaria, which at first I suspected might have proved your *willow-lark.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 43 b, Of Lysimachia..The leues..are thinne and in fasshon lyke *wylow leues. c1711Petiver Gazophyl. Dec. vii. Tab. 63 This has plain Willow Leaves. 1818A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 447 Willow-leaf golden-rod. 1829Shelley Summer 9 The willow leaves that glanced in the light breeze. 1860Nasmyth in Monthly Not. Royal Astron. Soc. (1864) XXIV. 67 What I claim to be the first to discover..in reference to the structure of his entire luminous surface, as well as the precise form of the structural details, which, from their general similitude in respect to form, I at once compared with willow-leaves. Ibid., These luminous filaments or willow-leaf-shaped objects. 1975Country Life 20 Mar. 699/3 Willow-leaf pears..form charming leafy tapestries.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Adhatoda, The *Willow-leav'd Malabar Nut. 1789W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis II. 176 Willow leav'd Crab Tree. Nat[ive] of the Levant. 1820Bot. Reg. VI. 514 (heading) Willow-leaved pear-tree. 1864Lockyer in Reader 16 Jan. 79/2 Mr. Nasmyth's discovery of the willow-leaved things..covering like so many scales the whole surface of the sun. 1914W. J. Bean Trees & Shrubs Hardy in Brit. Isles II. 292 Willow-leaved Pear... Branchlets covered with down which is quite white when young. 1980V. Canning Fall from Grace ix. 155 A carpet of silvery Cineraria maritima spread under a group of willow-leaved pears.
1712Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 422 Its Leaves below are long *Willow-like. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 186 A long-branched willow-like shrub.
1946J. W. Day Harvest Adventure x. 159 Half-way between Yarmouth and Acle on that dead straight, *willow-lined road.
1845G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 101 The caterpillar of the *willow-moth.
1898Morris Austral Engl., *Willow Myrtle,..with willow-like leaves and pendent branches.
1773Phil. Trans. LXIII. 281 note, In the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, the [reedsparrow] hath obtained the name of the *willow-nightingale.
1717Petiveriana iii. 208 *Willow Oak. From the Likeness of its Leaf. 1813Willow oak [see grey oak s.v. grey a. 8]. 1897[see peach oak s.v. peach n.1 6]. 1949Amer. Forests Sept. 18/3 A tall willow oak drips slender verdant fingers. 1975Country Life 2 Jan. 38/3 More native trees were also planted, notably..the willow oak.
1772Forster in Phil. Trans. LXII. 390 *Willow-partridges.
1829S. Shaw Staffordsh. Potteries ix. 214 The Pattern Mr. Turner used was the *willow, designed by him from two oriental Plates, still preserved. 1848Newman Loss & Gain i. x. 68, I myself found half a willow-pattern saucer in the crater of Vesuvius. 1878Longfellow Kéramos 326 The willow pattern, that we knew In childhood, with its bridge of blue Leading to unknown thoroughfares.
1857C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace ii, The homely black tea⁓pot and *willow-patterned plates.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Willow-peeler, a device or a machine for stripping the bark from the willow wands.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 214 Plates for carriage and other small clocks..are polished with a *willow polisher.
1872Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 235 Lagopus albus. *Willow Ptarmigan.
c1500World & Child (1522) A iij, I can wystell you a fytte Syres in a *whylowe ryne. 1806Grahame Birds Scot. 5 He sits And warps the skep with willow rind.
1586W. Webbe Engl. Poetrie (Arb.) 75 Greene *willow rowes which Hiblæ bees doo reioice in.
1845Florist Jrnl. 193 Over the margin of the *willow-shaded pond.
1827Clare Sheph. Cal. 56 To wash-pools, where the *willow shadows lean.
1819P.O. Lond. Direct. 364 Patentee..of Beaver, Silk and Willow Hats, and *Willow-squares. 18341st Rep. Poor Law Comm. (1885) 199, I formerly carried on the business of a willow-square maker.
1901Seebohm Birds of Siberia xiv. 125 This never-ending, almost impenetrable *willow-swamp.
1857Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 49 Sea Buckthorn, Sallow⁓thorn, or *Willow-thorn.
1907Brit. Birds I. 44 The *Willow Tit varies a good deal geographically. 1979C. M. Perrins Brit. Tits vii. 60 The Willow Tit was the last British species to be recognized.
1958Spectator 22 Aug. 244/1, I discovered a rare bird, then almost unknown,..at Beckenham—a *willow titmouse.
1693Congreve in Dryden's Juvenal xi. (1697) 285 No bitter *Willow-tops have been its Food.
1805Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 119 The farmer may have recourse to plants of the *willow tribe for the forming of his hedges.
1764Goldsm. Trav. 294 The *willow-tufted bank.
1653Walton Angler ii. 62 Oh it is a great logger-headed Chub: Come, hang him upon that *Willow twig. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxxi, It shore asunder, as it had been a willow twig, the tough and plaited handle of the mace.
1833Tennyson Lady of Shalott i. iii, By the margin, *willow-veil'd.
1803J. Palmer World as it Goes II. 14 The carriage entered a *willow-walk, terminated by a small antique building. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, When you want me for breakfast, I will be found in the willow-walk by the river.
a1585Montgomerie Flyting 82 With a *willie wand thy skin was well scourged. c1650Robin Hood & Q. Kath. xxii. in Child Ballads v. 201 I'le cleave the willow wand. 1715Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. ii. v, Clever houghs like willi-wands. 1748Thomson Cast. Indol. i. xxiii, As lithe they grow as any willow wand. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. ix, The rushes and the willow-wand Are bristling into axe and brand. 1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring iii. 80, I shall be as thin as a willow-wand.
1846Jenyns Nat. Hist. 133 We found to-day the nest of a *willow-warbler. 1882Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 429 The willow-warbler (Sylvia trochilus).
1851C. Cist Cincinnati 172 Baskets, cradles, wagons and other *willow-ware. 1880Harper's Mag. June 30/1 We find women employed in making..willow-ware and cane chairs. c1885R. Collyer in J. H. Holmes Life & Lett. (1917) I. ii. 24 A great rack for the pewter dishes and willow ware.
1850‘Bat’ Crick. Man. 45 The way to use the *willow weapon.
1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 379 *Willow Weed or French Willow. 1855Tennyson Brook 46 And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. 1866Treas. Bot., Willow-weed, Lythrum Salicaria; also Polygonum lapathifolium.
1903Times 13 July 11/6 Wily *willow-wielders.
1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 292 The goodman..from a corner nigh Took up some *willow-withes.
1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 4 The charcoal of *willow-wood is preferred, by many, for the manufacture of gunpowder. 1845G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 61 Wheels..made of..willow-wood.
1896E. G. Lodeman Spray. Plants 373 *Willow-worm; Antiopa Butterfly (Vanessa Antiopa).
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 753 As Betonie breakes friendship's ancient bands, So *Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 307 In an Hollow made by the falling of the Water in the Rains, grows Willow-wort. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Salicaria, Willow-wort or spiked Lose⁓strife. 1846Lindley Veg. Kingd. 254 Salicaceæ. Willow⁓worts.
1805Scott Last Minstr. ii. xi, And changed the *willow-wreaths to stone.
1768Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 266 The *willow-wren frequents large moist woods. 1882Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 556 Aug. 16th, Willow-wrens had deserted the furze bushes and hedges.
1870John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 91 With *willow wielders like these, it is no wonder Notts holds the high position it does as a batting shire.
d. In uses containing an allusion to the willow as a symbol of mourning or of being lovelorn.
1585in Chappell Old Engl. Pop. Mus. (1893) 110, I wylbe the turtle most stedfast [still] to the: & paciently were this grene wyllow garland. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 228 Tell him, in hope hee'l proue a widower shortly, I weare the Willow Garland for his sake. 1632Lithgow Trav. iii. 112 Still for to weare the Willow wreath. 1638Ford Fancies iii. iii, A knot of Willow Ribbands. 1648Herrick Hesper., To Willow-tree 7 When once the Lovers Rose is dead,..Then Willow-garlands, 'bout the head, Bedew'd with teares, are worne. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. 36 This willow-wearing fair one. 1833― Parson's Dau. i. xii, The..willow-wearers at Ullsford.
e. quasi-adj. = willowy a. 2. See also quot. a 1700.
1634S. R. Noble Soldier iv. i. F i b, I yeelded With willow-bendings to commanding breaths. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Willow, Poor, and of no Reputation. 1875M. E. Braddon Strange World ii, Tall, slim, and willow-waisted.
f. Short for willow pattern (sense 6 c above), as willow cup, willow plate, willow pottery. See also willow ware (a).
1926R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. x. 179 It would look jolly with blue willow cups and plates on it. 1928T. S. Eliot in E. Pound Sel. Poems p. xvii, People who like Willow pottery and Chinesische-Turms in Munich and Kew. 1961M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) xi. 142 In contrast, the laburnums..curved earthward with willow-plate grace.
Add:[1.] e. A pale green shade or tint of the colour of willow leaves; = willow-green, sense 6 below.
1922Index to Color Names & Color Numbers (U.S. Textile Color Card Assoc.) 15 Willow. 1963New Yorker 1 June 112/3 (Advt.), Edged with scalloped shells in rich pastels—cherry, coral, cornflower, taffy, willow or robin's egg blue. 1978A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden xi. 111 Green was hope, but sea-green was inconstancy. Violet was religion, and willow was forsaken. 1983Harrods Mag. Christmas 176/1 (caption) Wool jacket with leather collar. Charcoal, Clover Brown or Willow.
▪ II. ˈwillow, v.
[f. willow n. 4.]
trans. To put (cotton, etc.) through a willow.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 330 It must be willowed..in an appropriate manner, by machines differing in structure and adjustment for different qualities of goods. |