| 释义 |
woodpecker|ˈwʊdˌpɛkə(r)|
Also 7 -picker.
[f. wood n.1 + peck v.1 + -er1. (Cf. the Gr. names δρυ(ο)κολάπτης, δρυοκόλαψ, δρυοκόπος, f. δρῦς tree + κολάπτειν to peck, κοπ- to strike.)]
1. a. A bird of the family Picidæ, esp. of the sub-family Picinæ, comprising very numerous genera and species found in most parts of the world; usually having variegated plumage of bright contrasted colours with various markings; characterized by their habit of pecking holes in the trunks and branches of trees.
1530Palsgr. 289/2 Woodpecker a byrde, espec. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 228 As the Wood-pecker, his long tongue doth lill Out of the clov'n pipe of his horny bill, To catch the Emets. 1604Drayton Owle 191 The Wood⁓pecker, whose hardned beake hath..pierc'd the heart of many a sollid Oke. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia v. 171 Numbers of small Birds..Wood-pickers. 1778J. Carver Trav. N. Amer. xviii. 471 The Woodpecker..is a very beautiful bird; there is one sort whose feathers are a mixture of various colours; and another that is brown all over the body, except the head and neck, which are of a fine red. 1806Moore Ballad Stanzas ii, I heard not a sound But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. vi. (1860) 184 In North America there are woodpeckers which feed largely on fruit. 1862― Orchids iii. 127 As a woodpecker..climbs up a tree in search of insects. 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 191 Woodpeckers nest in holes in trees.
b. With defining words, denoting various species.
The three British species are the green woodpecker (Gecinus viridis), the pied woodpecker or greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major), and the barred woodpecker or lesser spotted woodpecker (D. minor). Others are the great black woodpecker (Picus or Dryocopus martius) of the northern parts of Europe and Asia, and many N. American species, as the downy woodpecker (Picus or Dendrocopus pubescens), the golden-winged woodpecker (Colaptes auratus), the hairy woodpecker (Picus or Dendrocopus villosus), the pileated woodpecker (Hylotomus or Dryotomus pileatus) etc. Several of these are locally known by special names, as flicker, hickwall, ivory-bill, log-cock, popinjay, sap-sucker, witwall, woodspite, yaffle, etc. (see these words).
1668Charleton Onomast. 86 Picus Martius..the great Wood-pecker. 1731Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina (1754) I. 21 Picus varius minor, ventre luteo. The yellow belly'd Wood-pecker. 1782Latham Gen. Syn. Birds I. 558 Red⁓necked woodpecker. The whole head and neck..are crimson. Ibid. II. 591 Yellow Woodpecker..less than our green Woodpecker: being only nine inches in length..is common at Cayenne. 1782–1890 [see spotted ppl. a. 4 b]. 1802Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 129 The Black Wood⁓pecker subsists on insects, which it catches on the bark of trees... It is able to pierce..hard trees, as the oak and hornbeam. 1808A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. I. 142 His tri-colored plumage..is so striking..that almost every child is acquainted with the Red-headed Woodpecker. 1884Harper's Mag. Mar. 622/2 The golden-winged, and the yellow-bellied woodpeckers..are also with us. 1898Maria R. Audubon Audubon & Jrnls. II. 51 Harris and Bell had gone shooting and returned with several birds, among which was a female Red-patched Woodpecker.
†2. Cant. At gaming, a bystander who encourages novices by putting up small stakes. Obs.
1608Dekker Lanth. & Candle Lt. iii. D 2, He that winnes all, is the Eagle. He that stands by and Ventures, is the Woodpecker. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew.
3. U.S. and Austral. Mil. slang. A machine-gun.
1898J. H. Parker Hist. Gatling Gun Detachment vii. 127 Goin' to let the woodpeckers go off? 1932J. Dos Passos 1919 410 The shrill bullets combing the air and the sorehead woodpeckers the machineguns mud cooties gasmasks and the itch. 1945Baker Austral. Lang. viii. 157 Woodpecker, a Japanese .77 machine-gun. 1945Yank 27 July 7 The Japs opened up with what sounded like dual-purpose 75s, 20-mm pompoms and woodpeckers. 1976G. Markham Japanese Infantry Weapons World War Two 41 The popular Taishō 3rd year type machine-gun..was introduced in 1914. Its peculiar stuttering fire earned the gun the Australian nickname of ‘woodpecker’ (or ‘woodchopper’). |