| 释义 |
Lilliputian, n. and a.|lɪlɪpjuːʃ(ɪ)ən|
Also Liliputian.
[f. Lilliput + -ian.]
A. n. An inhabitant of Lilliput; hence, a person of diminutive size, character, or mind.
1726Swift Gulliver i. iii, etc. 1727Fielding Love Sev. Masques iii. x, Oh, gemini! would I had been born a Lilliputian! 1808Scott Dryden's Wks. (1883) IV. 5 The other personages of the drama sink into Lilliputians beside the gigantic Almanzor. 1884Fortn. Rev. Mar. 326 The antics of these official Lilliputians.
B. adj. Of or pertaining to Lilliput or its inhabitants; hence, of diminutive size; petty.
1726Swift Gulliver i. v, The Lilliputian tongue. 1728Morgan Algiers II. v. 319 Good substantial Leagues dwindling into even Liliputian Furlongs. a1764Lloyd New-River Head Poet. Wks. 1774 II. 64 The Lilliputian Statesmen rise To malice of gigantic size. 1808Scott in Lockhart Life (1869) III. xviii. 150 Petty conquests or Liliputian expeditions. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 33/1 The stairs are of lilliputian measurement, fitted to their tiny strides. 1878Emerson Misc. Papers, Sov. Ethics Wks. (Bohn) III. 383 In America..our institutions, our politics..have fostered a self-reliance which is small, liliputian, full of fuss and bustle. 1884Garden. Illustr. 8 Nov. 427/1 The charming little Erysimum pumilum..is often called the Lilliputian Wallflower.
Hence Lilliˈputianize v., to dwarf. Lilliputianized ppl. a., Lilliputianizing vbl. n.
1885Clark Russell Strange Voy. I. xix. 282 The satirical Lilliputianizing of the stately Margaret Edwards went against the grain. 1889Macm. Mag. Oct. 419/2 The Liliputianized figures of her crew making a very toy of the little fabric. 1890Clark Russell Ocean Trag. I. xi. 230 Liliputianised as he was [by distance]. |