| 释义 |
▪ I. lace, n.|leɪs|
Forms: 3–4 las, 4–5 laas, (4 lasse, Sc. laise, 5 laace), 5–7 lase, (5 Sc. les, 6 laze, Sc. lais), 4– lace.
[ad. OF. laz, las (mod.F. lacs, with etymologizing spelling), f. popular L. *lacium (L. laqueum) a noose. Cf. It. laccio, Sp., Pg. lazo.]
†1. A net, noose, snare. Chiefly fig. Obs.
13..K. Alis. 7698 Woman the haveth bycought: Woman the haveth in hire las! c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2389 Vulcanus had caught thee in his las. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas, Dance Machabree (1554) 222 Sithens that death me holdeth in his lase. 1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. i. 6 b j, How they myghte eschewe the laces and temptacyons of the deuyll. 1590Greene Never too late ii. (1600) O 3 b, Thus folded in a hard and mournfull laze Distrest sate hee. 1600Fairfax Tasso ii. xx, The king had snared been in loues strong lace. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 973 And yet if the polype can get and entangle him once within his long laces, hee [the lobster] dies for it.
†2.
a. A cord, line, string, thread, or tie. Obs. exc. spec. as in 3 a.
a1300Cursor M. 15880 (Gött.) Þar he [Iudas] liuerd his maistir up Þai bunden had wid las [Cott. laȝas]. c1340Ibid. 22967 (Fairf.), I salle..breke þaire bandis & þair lacis. 1390Gower Conf. III. 237 They taughten him a lace to braide. 1405–6Acc. Rolls Durham (Surtees) 400 Cum..lacez et anulis pro ridellis. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxii, And hym to treyne [they] layde out hoke & lase. a1425Wyntoun Orig. Cron. iv. x. 1231 Off gold thrawyn all lyk a les. 1463in Bury Wills (Camden) 42 A stoon and a reed lace with a knoppe. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop i. xviii. (1889) 27 The ratte beganne..to byte the lace or cord. 1535Coverdale Eccles. xii. 6 Or euer the syluer lace be taken awaye. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. viii. (1647) 123 Pitie it was that Rahab's red lace was not tied at his window.
†b. transf. and fig. Obs.
a1547Surrey in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 4 To seke the place where I my selfe had lost, That day that I was tangled in the lace. 1555Eden Decades 200 Abowte whose leaues there growe and creepe certeyne cordes or laces. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. xx. 30 The roote hath many smal strings or threddy laces hanging thereby. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 143 The red scarlet lace of Christs blood, must be entortled and interwoven into a bracelet, with a white silken thred of holinesse and regeneration. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. iv. 103 Some fancy a small Lace of land (or rather a thread for the narrowness thereof) whereby Naphtali is tyed unto Judah.
3. spec.
a. A string or cord serving to draw together opposite edges (chiefly of articles of clothing, as bodices, stays, boots and shoes) by being passed in and out through eyelet-holes (or over hooks, studs, etc.) and pulled tight. Cf. boot-, shoe-, stay-lace.
† under lace: under the bodice; in ME. poetry = ‘under gore’.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1830, I schal gif yow my girdel, þat gaynes yow lasse. Ho laȝt a lace lyȝtly, þat leke vmbe hir sydez. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 843 And shod he was with greet maistrye, With shoon decoped, & with laas. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Baptista 1208 To quham I ame nocht worthi loute na of his schone þe laise tak oute. c1394P. Pl. Crede 79 To wenen Þat þe lace of oure ladie smok liȝteþ hem of children. c1440Ipomydon 326 (Kölbing) He..drew a lace of sylke full clere, Adowne than felle hys mantylle by. c1440Bone Flor. 1817 They..betoke hur to the marynere, That lovely undur lace. 1534More Picus Wks. 30 Ne none so small a trifle or conceyte, Lase, girdle, point, or proper gloue straite. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 49 She was indeed a Pedler's daughter, and sold many Laces. 1611Bible Exod. xxviii. 28 They shall bind the brestplate..vnto the rings of the Ephod with a lace of blewe. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis i. x. 28 Sprinkling water in her face, and cutting her laces, they made her fit abate. 1676Grew Anat. Flowers i. §3 As Teeming Women, gradually slaken their Laces. 1709Blair in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 96 Like so many Thongs or Laces whereinto a piece of Leather had been cut. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 193 The Flowers bear a resemblance to tags at the End of long Laces. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. xvi. 106 When I recovered, [I] found..my laces cut, my linen scented with hartshorn. 1879Browning Ned Bratts 133 He taught himself the make Of laces, tagged and tough. 1885Law Rep., Q.B.D. XV. 360 The two ends were rivetted or laced together with metal rivets or leathern laces.
¶ Formerly sometimes used to render L. fibula ‘brooch’.
1382Wyclif 1 Macc. x. 88 He sente to hym a golden lace [L. fibulam]. c1440Promp. Parv. 283/1 Lace, fibula, laqueum. 1570Levins Manip. 6/35 A lace, fibula.
†b. A cord used to support something hanging, e.g. a sword; a baldrick, belt. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. 21 His hat heng at his bak doun by a laas. 1490Caxton Eneydos xvi. 63 Eneas..had a bystorye..hangynge at a silken lase by his side. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xxii. 66 He hade about hys necke a ryche horne hangyng by two lases of golde. 1597Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 115 His quauer by his naked thyis Hang in ane siluer lace.
†4. ? transf. from 3 a. In building: A tie beam; a brace. Also, a panelled ceiling (= L. laquear).
a1300Cursor M. 1728 Noe..self festnid bath band and lace. Ibid. 8778 Quen al was purueid on þe place, And bunden samen balk and lace. c1440Promp. Parv. 283/1 Lace of an howserofe, laquearea. 1592Nottingham Rec. IV. 235 Settinge in a lace to Posterne Bridge rayle. 1601Holland Pliny II. 581 A man may..bestow them [beams] againe fast enough without laces to bind them.
5. a. Ornamental braid used for trimming men's coats, etc.; † a trimming of this. Now only in gold lace, silver lace, a braid formerly made of gold or silver wire, now of silk or thread with a thin wrapping of gold or silver.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 239 Flatte golde of Dammaske with small lace myxed betwene of the same golde, and other laces of the same so goyng traverse wyse, that the grounde lytle appered. 1591Greene Disc. Coosnage iii. 36 The Tayler had..so much gold lace, beside spangles, as valued thirteene pound. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Peace ii, Surely, thought I, This [a rainbow] is the lace of Peaces coat. 1634Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 135 Garters deepe fringed with gold lace. 1681Dryden Prol. to Univ. of Oxford 16 Tack but a copper lace to drugget suit. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3793/4 Mary Presbury..Gold and Silver Lace-seller. 1704Swift T. Tub §2. 67 So without more ado they got the largest Gold Lace in the Parish, and walkt about as fine as Lords. 1787O'Keefe Farmer ii. iii, But now a saucy Footman, I strut in worsted Lace. 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1749, In a scarlet waistcoat, with rich gold lace, and a gold-lace hat. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lace, the trimmings of uniforms.
†b. transf. A streak or band of colour. Obs. rare—1. (Cf. lace v. 6.)
1613[see guard n. 11 c].
6. A slender open-work fabric of linen, cotton, silk, woollen, or metal threads, usually ornamented with inwrought or applied patterns. Often called after the place where it is manufactured, e.g. Brussels lace. For bobbin-, chain-, pillow-, point-, etc. lace, see the first member. Also bone-lace, bride-lace.
1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. v. 50 The men satte at home spinnyng, and woorkyng of Lace. 1613(title) The King's Edict prohibiting all his Subjects from using any Gold or Silver, either fine or counterfeit; all Embroiderie, and all Lace of Millan, or of Millan Fashion. 1715Gay Epist. Earl Burlington 118 The busy town..Where finest lace industrious lasses weave. 1837Goring Microg. 208 Manufactured fabrics, such as lace, blond, muslin, [etc.].
transf.1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xi. (1878) 211 In the shadows lay fine webs and laces of ice.
7. A ‘dash’ of spirits mixed with some beverage, esp. coffee. (Cf. lace v.1 9 and laced ppl. a.1 6.)
In quot. c 1704 the meaning may be ‘sugar’, as Johnson supposes. (Cf. quot. a 1700 s.v. laced ppl. a.1 6.)
c1704Prior Chameleon 26 He drinks his coffee without lace. 1712Addison Spect. No. 448 ⁋1 He is forced every Morning to drink his Dish of Coffee by itself, without the Addition of the Spectator, that used to be better than Lace to it. 1755Johnson, Lace, sugar. A cant word. [With quot. c 1704.]
8. General comb.:
a. simple attributive, as (sense 3 a) lace-hole, (sense 6) lace-box, lace-curtain, (also fig. and attrib., middle- or upper-class, ‘respectable’, having social pretensions), lace-stitch, lace-tracery, lace-trade, lace-work, lace-worker; laceless, lace-like adjs.b. objective, as lace-buyer, lace-designer, lace-dresser, lace-maker, lace-making, lace-mender, lace-seller, lace-weaver.
c. instrumental and parasynthetic, as lace-covered, lace-curtained, lace-edged, lace-loaded, lace-trimmed adjs.
1904*Lace box [see Bible-box]. 1969E. H. Pinto Treen 370 Lace boxes, to stand on chests of drawers..enjoyed their greatest popularity during the second half of the 17th century and during Queen Anne's reign.
1679Lond. Gaz. No. 1391/4 Taken..from two *Lace⁓buyers..two Geldings.
1883F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius ii, A dainty *lace-covered parasol fell over the edge.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 347/3 *Lace curtains and lambrequins. 1934J. T. Farrell Young Manhood xviii. 282 They were all trying to put on the dog, show that they were lace-curtain Irish, and lived in steam-heat. 1949Sat. Rev. Lit. (U.S.) 25 June 33/1 Mrs. Ruskay's folks were lace-curtain Jews; they had a piano and a Polish maid. 1960Guardian 8 July 8/4 The Kennedy millions..were..wrested by a lace-curtain Irishman from..the Boston Brahmins. 1964Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlii. 35 The most common-place of these is the distinction between shanty- and lace-curtain Irish, i.e., those who remain in the lower-class communities near the center of the city..and those who move into lowermiddle-class communities and work hard to approximate the ideals of vulgar respectability. 1965‘E. Queen’ Fourth Side of Triangle iii. 122 Also, I have the misfortune to be Irish. And not lace-curtain Irish, either! 1970Guardian 5 June 10/2 Britain has a long tradition of what might be called lace-curtain racialism. 1974J. Stubbs Painted Face iii. 56 Every house in the square was veiled in lace curtains.
1891C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 128 Dainty, *lace-curtained windows.
1890Daily News 16 Apr. 2/4 Thomas Argyll,..*lace-designer.
1879E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 31 *Lace⁓edged antimacassars.
1871Figure Training 34 At the age of fourteen or thereabouts, the front rows of *lace-holes may be omitted.
1901Daily News 4 June 2/6 The shoes, low and *laceless, slip on easily. 1968R. Clapperton No News on Monday xi. 129 His feet were thrust into a pair of laceless tennis shoes.
1833J. Rennie Alph. Angling 45 All the species of dragon-fly, with the exception of one or two, being characterised by very clear, *lace-like, pellucid wings. 1873Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 125 Lacelike curves of ever-gaining, ever-receding foam.
1836T. Hook G. Gurney iii. 86 The strapping, state-fed, *lace-loaded lacqueys of the Mansion-House.
1589Rider Eng.-Lat. Dict., A *Lace⁓maker, fibularius. 1611Cotgr., Passementier, a Lace-maker. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. v. §9. 100 Weavers and lacemakers.
1835–37Southey in Cowper's Wks. I. 202 *Lace making was the business of the place.
1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. vii. 227 *Lace-menders examine every piece, and mend, with needle and thread, every defect.
1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3793/4 Gold and Silver *Laceseller.
1872Young Englishwoman Dec. 658/2 These medallions are worked in appliqué of muslin or net, in satin stitch, knotted-stitch etc. *Lace stitches fill the centre of the flower. 1961A. Liley Craft of Embroidery i. 28 (heading) Lace stitch filling... This is also a buttonhole stitch variation giving the laciest effect of all the buttonhole fillings.
1890‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xliv. 185/1 A faint *lace-tracery of mist.
1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Lace, The *lace trade of Nottingham.
1835Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 1st Ser. I. i. 4 Her previous admiration of ‘the board’..fades into nothing before her respect for her *lace-trimmed conductor [i.e. the beadle]. 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. xii. 217 A lace-trimmed cradle. 1894Daily News 5 June 8/4 Scarves of crêpon with lace-trimmed ends.
1715Lond. Gaz. No. 5327/2 The Company of *Lace-Weavers at Augsburg. 1802Brookes' Gazetteer (ed. 12) s.v. Locle, Famous for watchmakers, laceweavers, goldsmiths.
1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Legacy xxiv. 242 A white cravat the ends of which were in open *lace-work. 1873Tristram Moab ix. 173 Numbers of stones with very pretty lacework of various patterns.
1896Daily News 1 Oct. 2/2 His sister, another *laceworker, is in charge of the family during their sojourn in London.
9. Special comb.: lace-bark (tree), (a) a West Indian shrub (Lagetta lintearia), so called from the lace-like layers of its inner bark; (b) any of several small New Zealand trees of the family Malvaceæ, including Plagianthus betulinus and several species of Hoheria (cf. houhere), with toothed leaves and clusters of white flowers; also attrib.; lace-border, a geometrid moth (Acidalia ornata) with a broad lace-like border to the wings; lace-bug, an insect of the family Tingidæ, including many species of bugs that feed on plants and sometimes become pests; lacecap, a hydrangea whose corymbs are made up of small fertile flowers or a mixture of these with larger sterile ones, giving the effect of lace; also used attrib. or as adj. to describe flower-heads of this type belonging to hydrangeas or other plants; lace-coral, a fossil polyzoan of the family Fenestellidæ; lace-fern, (a) a small elegant fern (Cheilanthes gracillima) having the under side of the frond covered with matted wool; (b) any of the several species of the genus Hymenophyllum; lace-frame (see frame n. 13 b); lace-glass, Venetian glass with lace-like designs; † lace-head, a head-dress of lace; lace-leaf (plant), Ouvirandra fenestralis, of Madagascar; lace-lizard, an Australian lizard (Hydrosaurus varius); lace-man, a man who manufactures or deals in lace; lace-paper, paper cut or stamped in imitation of lace; lace-pigeon (see quots.); lace-pillow, the pillow or cushion which is laid on the lap of a woman engaged in making pillow-lace; lace-plant, ? = lace-leaf plant; lace-runner (see quot.); † lace-shade, a lace veil; lace-tree, ? = lace-bark tree; lace-wing (fly), a fly with delicate lace-like wings, esp. one of the genus Chrysopa; also lace-winged fly; lace-woman, a woman who works or deals in lace; lace-wood, (a) Austral. = lace-bark (b); (b) the wood of a plane tree, Platanus occidentalis or P. acerifolia.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 371 The Lagetto or *Lace-bark Tree. The bark is of a fine texture, very tough, and divides into a number of laminæ. 1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 76 In Jamaica a species is found which is called the Lace Bark Tree. 1868Trans. N.Z. Inst. Essays 33 Ribbon Wood, or Lace-bark tree (Plagianthus Lyalli). A very ornamental shrub tree, with large leaves and flowers. 1906, etc. [see houhere]. 1957Landfall XI. 234, I lay in a patch, Of bush—giant manuka, some lace-bark. 1958S. Ashton-Warner Spinster 189 Flaring out above the long grass and from beneath the lace-bark tree. 1966Weekly News (Auckland) 6 Apr. 40 The lacebark which is also known as mountain ribbonwood (Hoheria glabrata), grows on the western side of the Southern Alps.
1869E. Newman Brit. Moths 79 The *Lace Border (Acidalia ornata).
1895J. H. & A. Comstock Man. Study Insects xiv. 139 The *Lace-bugs. Dainty as fairy brides are these tiny, lace-draped insects. One glance at the fine white meshes that cover the wings and spined thorax is sufficient to distinguish them from all other insects, for these are the only ones that are clothed from head to foot in fine white Brussels net. 1923E. A. Butler Biol. Brit. Hemiptera–Heteroptera 196 In the Tingidae, or Lace Bugs, we are not rich, for we have but twenty-four in our fauna. 1932Metcalf & Flint Fund. Insect Life viii. 225 Lace bugs look as though they were cut out of fine gauze. 1967K. M. Smith Insect Virol. xi. 225 The vector in both cases is somewhat unusual, it is not a leafhopper but a ‘lace bug’. 1972Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. xii. 123 The Tingidæ, or lace bugs, are..small, oval or rectangular in outline, and lacelike in appearance owing to reticulated pattern on the head, thorax, and wings.
1950W. E. Shewell-Cooper Compl. Gardener iv. 339 Besides the hortensia type there is another type of H[ydrangea] macrophylla, the *Lacecaps, which have a flat head with small fertile flowers in the centre and a ring round the outside formed by the larger sterile flowers. 1966J. Berrisford Wild Garden ii. 29 Hydrangeas will grow extremely well in woodland... Grow the lacecaps too. Their flower-pattern is exquisite... The nearly related Schizophragma hydrangeoides is a climbing version of the hydrangea family... Its lacecap flowerheads have a solitary large bract-like sepal. 1967Sunday Times 21 May 14/5 The lovely lacecap hydrangea ‘Blue Wave’. 1971Guardian 17 Apr. 7/7 The lacecap-flowered Viburnum mariesii.
1885A. Brassey The Trades 239 The *lace- or fringe-fern..grew in wild profusion.
1895Daily News 5 Dec. 6/1 Selling a couple of old *lace-frames to some Frenchmen for 200l. apiece.
1883J. W. Mollett Dict. Art 156 There are six kinds of Venetian glass..(6) Reticulated, filigree, or *lace glass. 1884Mag. of Art Feb. 155/2 Briati..was especially celebrated..for his beautiful work in lace-glass.
1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 35 Shou'd a..Flanders *lace-head..Gar thee grow forgetfu'. 1809Edin. Rev. XV. 78 He will hear of lace-heads and ruffles.
1866Treas. Bot. (1870), *Lace-leaf plant, Ouvirandra. 1880J. Sibree Jr. Gt. African Isl. iv. 100 This is the Lace-leaf plant, or water-yam; in scientific phraseology, Ouvirandra fenestralis.
1881F. McCoy Prodromus Nat. Hist. of Victoria 4 Dec. (Morris), The present *Lace Lizard is generally arboreal.
1669Pepys Diary 26 Apr., Calling at the *lace-man's for some lace for my new suit. 1737Fielding Miser v. vii, The laceman will be here immediately. 1896Westm. Gaz. 5 Dec. 3/1 A laceman of a good many years' standing.
1765Treat. Dom. Pigeons 143 The *Lace Pigeon... They are valued on account of..the peculiarity of their feathers; the fibres, or web of which, appear disunited from each other throughout their whole plumage. 1859Brent Pigeon Bk. 54 The Lace or Silky Pigeon... The fibres of the feathers are all disunited,..which gives them a lacy or silky appearance.
1793Cowper Let. 9 Jan. in T. Wright Life (1892) 260 The *lace pillow is the only thing they dandle. 1865C. Knight Passages Work. Life III. x. 205 The jingling rhymes sung by young girls while engaged at their lace-pillows.
1885A. Brassey The Trades 426 A plant..called the ‘*lace-plant’, from the extreme delicacy and beauty of its foliage.
1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. vii. 225 The term embroidery does not seem to be much used in..the Nottingham lace-trade, most of those who work on net with the needle being termed ‘*lace-runners’.
1803J. Porter Thaddeus (1831) 275 Her *lace-shade..half veiled and half revealed her graceful figure.
1887C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 460 The public may..see in our stoves the rare *Lace tree of Jamaica.
1863Wood Nat. Hist. III. 491 The beautiful *Lace-wing Flies, or Hemerobiidæ... Several species of the Lace-wings are also called..Golden Eyes.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 94 The beautiful *lace-winged flies (Hemerobius).
1609B. Jonson Silent Wom. ii. iii, Tailors, lineners, *lace-women, embroiderers. 1896Daily News 1 Oct. 2/2 She is a lacewoman in the Exhibition.
1898Morris Austral Eng. 258/1 Lace-bark, Lacey-bark, or *Lacewood. 1902G. S. Boulger Wood v. 101 Very choice ornamental woods are employed mainly as veneers. Such are..those of Walnut; and the beautiful Lacewood or Honeysuckle wood of North America (Platanus occidentalis). 1930Morning Post 2 Aug. 12/2 The anomaly that Queensland silky oak should be purchased by the United States..and then shipped to this country where it is sold as lace-wood. 1962J. C. S. Brough Timbers for Woodwork (rev. ed.) xvi. 168 Cut upon the quarter, plane-wood shows an exceedingly handsome figure, and American grown wood converted in this fashion was sent over in fairly large quantities some years ago under the name of Lace-wood.
Add:[8.] [a.] lacework (fig. examples).
1763W. Stukeley Palæogr. Sacra i. 18 The mullion'd lacework of the windows. 1859C. Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 144 Its lace-work of interwoven light and shade. 1984J. Heller God Knows vi. 129 Reports that I was a man of war and a valiant man are but the lacework of hero worship.
▪ II. lace, v.|leɪs|
Forms: 4 lacye, 5 lacyn, (lyce), 5–6 lase, 6 Sc. laise, 7 ? leese (sense 2 d), 4– lace. pa. pple. 3 i-laced.
[ad. OF. lacier (F. lacer):—popular L. *laciāre to ensnare, f. *lacium: see lace n. Cf. Pr. lassar, Sp. lazar, Pg. laçar, It. lacciare.]
†1. trans. To catch in, or as in, a noose or snare; to entangle, ensnare. Obs.
c1400Rom. Rose 3178, I trowe never man wiste of peyne, But he were laced in Loves cheyne. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. (E.E.T.S.) 13,076 Folkys vnder my demeyne, Swych as be lacyd in my cheyne. c1485Digby Myst. v. 580 Fortune in worldes worshepe me doth lace.
2. a. To fasten or tighten with, or as with, a lace or string; to tie on; to fasten the lace of. In mod. use spec. to fasten or tighten (boots, stays, etc.) with a lace or laces passed alternately through two rows of eyelets. Also with down, on, together.
a1225Ancr. R. 420 Sum wummon..wereð..þe strapeles adun to hire uet i-laced ful ueste. a1300K. Horn 870 Horn his brunie gan on caste, And laced hit wel faste. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 81 Hir shoes were laced on hir legges hye. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 121 Þai er..laced togyder with lacez of silke. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3933 He kist þe clathes as þai hade bene lasyd And on the saint body brasyd. 1530Palsgr. 600/2, I wyll lace my doublet first for takyng of colde. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 46 A paire of bootes that haue been candle-cases, one buckled, another lac'd. 1672Wiseman Treat. Wounds i. iv. 43, I caused a straight stocking to be laced on both legs. 1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 75 ⁋8 To see me often with my Spectacles on lacing her Stays. 1711W. Sutherland Shipbuilder's Assist. 129 Lacing the Mizon. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. viii. 380 The galeon was..provided against boarding..by a strong net-work..which was laced over her waist. 1763Brit. Mag. IV. 286, I lace and unlace ladies stays of the first fashion, every day of my life. 1789–96Morse Amer. Geog. II. 35 They fix the rein-deer to a kind of sledge..in which the traveller, well secured from cold, is laced down. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 259 Ofttimes he laced and ofttimes he unlaced his mantle. 1885Law Rep., Q.B.D. XV. 360 The two ends were..laced together with..leathern laces.
b. transf. and fig.
13..Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 466 Heil beo whom þe godhed In vr flesch was laced. a1550Christis Kirke Gr. xviii, Hir glitterand hair that wes full gowdin, Sa hard in lufe him laist. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 35 When he sawe the perill of us all, lincked and laced to the daunger of hym selfe. 1578N. Baxter tr. Calvin on Jonah 64 Jonas..stood harde lased [L. quasi constrictus], because [etc.]. 1860Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 298 Each series of facts is laced together by a series of assumptions.
c. intr. (quasi-pass.) To admit of being fastened or tightened with laces.
1792Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. III. 37 She wailing, in most piteous case, Of stubborn stays—that would not lace. 1888P. Furnivall Phys. Training 6 Shoes..should..lace from the toe, as high up the foot as is possible.
d. Naut. ‘To apply (a bonnet) by lacing it to a sail’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867). Also with on. (Cf. F. lacer.)
1635Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 169 You may take off the main bonnet and top bonnet,..and in a short time you may lace them on again. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 16 Leese in [ed. 1684 Lace on] your Boonets.
3. a. To compress the waist of (a person) by drawing the laces tight. With qualifying adv. (straitly, tight, etc.). Also fig. to lace in: to compress the waist of (a person) by lacing. Similarly, to lace down.
a1566R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) B iv, Whiche bothe are in vertue so narrowly laced, That [etc.]. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.) 107, I do not love to bee last in, when I goe to lase a rascall. 1668R. Steele Husbandm. Call. x. (1672) 262 They grow crooked by being lac'd too strait. 1700Congreve Way of World iii. x, Like Mrs. Primly's great Belly; she may lace it down before, but it burnishes on her Hips. 1825Scott Fam. Let. 23 Jan. (1894) II. 230 Rather straitly laced in her Presbyterian stays. 1882World 21 June 18/1 The bodice..laced-in a waist of twenty inches.
b. refl., and intr. for refl.
1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 195 Better advised are the Venetian Dames, who never Lace themselves. 1871Figure Training 9 To lace or not to lace. Ibid. 99, I can, if disposed, lace in to sixteen inches.
4. a. trans. To thread or interlace (a fabric of any kind) with a lace, string, or the like; to embroider. Chiefly in pa. pple.
1483Wardr. Acc. in Antiq. Repert. (1807) I. 30 The fore⁓saide canapies sowed with oon unce of silk, and lyced with 1 lb. xj unces of grene threde. 1576Turberv. Venerie 21 You shall haue a net made of strong thread laced with a thong. 1630R. N. Camden's Eliz. ii. 68 Silkes, glittering with gold and siluer, eyther imbroydered or laced. 1774West Antiq. Furness p. xxii, Marle and soil, laced with fibres of vegetables. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. vii. v. (1881) 253 We..lace the air with telegraph wires. 1880Paper & Print. Trades Jrnl. No. 32. 38 Oblong vellum binding laced with cat-gut.
b. To pass (a cord, etc.) in and out through a fabric by way of ornament, through holes, etc. † Also with in. Also fig. spec. in Bookbinding, to attach the boards to a volume sewn on cords by passing the slips through holes pierced in them; also with in.
1638Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 108 To lace in a prayer, a blessing, a thanksgiving. 1818H. Parry Art of Bookbinding 15 Put the paste-boards on each side of the book..and mark on them, with a bodkin, the places where the bands are to be drawn or laced in. 1835J. Hannett Bibliopegia 30 One board is then placed on each side of the volume, even at the head, and marked with a bodkin opposite to the slips intended to be laced in. 1871Amer. Encycl. Printing 74 When the boards are affixed to the volume by means of the bands being passed through holes made in the boards, they are said to be laced in. 1880J. W. Zaehnsdorf Art Bookbinding (1890) xiv. 57 The boards having been squared, they are to be attached to the book by lacing the ends of the cord through holes made in the board. 1946A. J. Vaughan in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding xxxi. 382/1 The boards are held to the book by three or more cords. These are the cords upon which the sections have been sewn and the boards are said to be ‘laced on’. Should these cords not have been laced through the boards the binding is what is known as a cased book, a cheaper style. 1961[see lacing vbl. n. 3 e].
c. To intertwine, to place together as if interwoven.
1883Hall Caine Cobw. of Crit. vi. 176 The poet..lacing and interlacing his combinations of thought and measure. 1889F. M. Peard Paul's Sister I. viii. 218 Lucy..laced her white fingers across her forehead.
†d. ? nonce-use. To pierce repeatedly with shots.
1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea x. 21 Wherevpon the Gunner at the next shott, lact the Admirall through and through.
e. intr. Of structures that resemble or suggest lacing: to pass across a gap or about an object. Also fig., to become entwined.
a1889G. M. Hopkins Poems (1918) 76 Her dearness..more and more times laces round and round my heart. 1899H. G. Wells When Sleeper Wakes x. 103 The cables and bridges that laced across the aisles were empty. Ibid. xxii. 288 A flimsy seeming scaffolding that laced about the great mass of the Council House.
f. trans. To pass (film or tape) between the guides and other parts of a projector, tape recorder, or the like so that it occupies the path taken from one spool to the other when the machine is running. Usu. with up.
1948C. A. Hill Cine-Film Projection v. 54 Unless the film is your own, you must put its care before everything else, even if you have to stop the show, but this should never be necessary if you always lace the film correctly. 1966G. Sinstadt Whisper in Lonely Place vi. 106 A facia panel opened to reveal a tape deck. He removed a spool from the metal container and laced up the tape. 1968C. N. G. Matthews Tape Recording ix. 80 Press the stop button almost at once or you will come to the end of the tape and have the trouble of lacing it up again. 1974Some Technical Terms & Slang (Granada Television), Lace up, to thread film through a machine for projection or transmission.
5. To ornament or trim with lace.
1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 20 Cloth a gold, and cuts, and lac'd with siluer. 1670Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 21 The under pettycoatt very richly laced with two or three sorts of lace. 1727Swift Further Acc. E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 161 Have not I clothed you in double royal,..laced your backs with gold. 1760tr. Keysler's Trav. II. 354 A chair covered with velvet, and laced with gold. 1841James Brigand xxvi, The king was habited..in black velvet richly embroidered and laced with gold.
6. a. To mark as with (gold or silver) lace or embroidery; to diversify with streaks of colour.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 8 Looke Loue what enuious streakes Do lace the seuering Cloudes in yonder East. c1600― Sonn. lxvii, That sinne by him aduantage should atchiue, And lace it selfe with his societie. 1605― Macb. ii. iii. 118 Here lay Duncan, His Siluer skinne, lac'd with his Golden Blood. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 81 The verge of heaven Was ringd with flames, and all the upper vault Thick lac't with flakes of fire. 1648Gage West. Ind. xvii. (1655) 113 A pleasant and goodly valley, laced with a River. 1850Whipple Ess. & Rev. (ed. 3) I. 280 The gloom of his meditations is laced with light in all directions. 1850Beck's Florist 200 Very smooth, stout petal laced with rosy purple. 1860Kingsley Misc. II. 259 A Waterfall of foam, lacing the black rocks with a thousand snowy streams. 1861L. L. Noble After Icebergs 67 Boats..freighted with the browner cod, laced occasionally with a salmon. Ibid. 139 The ocean with its waves of Tyrian dye laced with silver. 1923H. G. Wells Men like Gods i. vi. 89 ‘Tell me’, that engaging phrase, laced his conversation. 1971Nature 2 July 70/2 That work led to two by-products: a Beilby award in 1948 and a fund of sea stories with which to lace his general conversation.
†b. Painting. absol. To insert streaks of any colour, e.g. white. Obs.
1634Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 74 It is the best white of all others to lace or garnish, being ground with a weak gumme water.
c. intr. Of a flower: To acquire the streaks of colour prized by fanciers. (Cf. laced ppl. a. 4.)
1852Beck's Florist 210 The varieties [of pinks] generally laced very well.
7. To lash, beat, thrash.
1599[see 3]. 1615Band, Ruffe & Cuffe (Halliw.) 10 If I meet thee, I will lace thee roundly. 1618Fletcher Loyal Subj. v. iv, He was whipt like a top; I never saw a whore so lac'd. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables, Life of æsop 11 Go your ways..or I'll lace your coat for you. 1783Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) 1, To lace,..cædo, verbero. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxi. (1857) 234 A..switch..waiting to leap out imp-like and lace my quivering palm. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lace, to beat or punish with a rattan or rope's end.
†8. Cookery. To make a number of incisions in (the breast of a bird). Obs.
1658Sir T. T. de Mayerne Archimag. Anglo-Gall. No. 36. 33 Take a Wigeon..or Mallard..and with your knife lace them down the brest. a1704Compleat Servant-Maid (ed. 7) 33 Lace down the Breast on both sides. 1796H. Glasse Cookery xxvi. 382 Cut off the legs, lace the breast down each side.
9. To put a ‘lace’ of spirits (or † of sugar) into (a beverage); to mingle or ‘dash’ (with spirits).
[1677: see laced ppl. a.1 6.] 1687Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To lace Coffee, mettre un peu de Sucre dans une tasse de Caphé. 1815Scott Guy M. xi, He had his pipe and his tea-cup, the latter being laced with a little spirits. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. ix. (1878) 84 Polly loves a mug of ale, too, and laced with brandy. 1881Blackw. Mag. CXXIX. 195 Abraham began by lacing his cups for him. 1898Stevenson St. Ives 53 A jug of milk, which she had handsomely laced with whiskey after the Scottish manner.
10. Comb., as lace-boots.
1827Sporting Mag. XX. 272 Strong lace-boots coming just over the ancle.
Hence ˈlacing ppl. a. nonce-use = interlacing. Also ˈlacer, one who laces, in comb. tight-lacer.
1871Figure Training 48 So far as I have observed, tight-lacers are, as a rule, active, brisk, healthy young people. 1873G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xiii. 99 We catch glimpses of it sometimes through the lacing branches.
Add:[2.] [a.] Freq. with up (also absol.).
1851Ann. Reg. 38/1 He was lacing up his high-lows in the washhouse. 1921E. O'Neill Emperor Jones ii. 170 He sits down and begins to lace up his shoes in great haste. 1985G. Keillor Lake Wobegon Days (1986) 222 You lace up and teeter down the plywood ramp and take your first glide of the season.
[7.] colloq. b. intr. With into. Also transf., to attack verbally. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1922H. C. Witwer in Collier's 2 Dec. 7 When the sport writers find out I am not kidding, why, they laced into me with a gusto! a1961Time in Webster s.v., Reviewers laced into the play. 1976Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 7 Nov. 47/11 The teenage savages who push their victims into their apartments..and then lace into them. 1988N. Bissoondath Casual Brutality x. 194 A couple o' years before you come back, the Casaquemada Times had a columnist...He lace into the government, this fella, twice a week. Inside information. Language like a knife. |