| 释义 |
▪ I. loop-hole, loophole, n.1|ˈluːphəʊl|
[f. loop n.2 + hole n.]
1. Fortification. A narrow vertical opening, usually widening inwards, cut in a wall or other defence, to allow of the passage of missiles.
1591Garrard's Art of Warre 302 That not one of the towne do so much as appeare at their defences or loop holes. a1625Fletcher Nice Valour ii. i. 1st Song, Thou that makest a heart thy Tower, And thy loop-holes, Ladies eyes. 1697Dryden æneid ix. 711 Shoot through the Loopholes, and sharp Jav'lins throw. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) III. lxviii. 716 Incessant volleys were securely discharged from the loop-holes. 1805Southey Ballads & Metr. T. Poet. Wks. VI. 59 Bishop Hatto..barr'd with care All the windows, doors, and loop-holes there. 1840Browning Sordello ii. 981 Ah, the slim castle!..gone to ruin—trails Of vine through every loop-hole. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 263 Loop-holes are oblong holes, from 15 to 18 inches long, 6 inches wide within, and 2 or 3 without. They are cut through timber, or masonry, for the service of small arms.
†b. Naut. A port-hole. Also (see quot. 1769).
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 7 They fit Loop⁓holes in them for the close fights. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 40 Her mast and loope-holes gracefully adorned with banners, and flags of cloth of gold. 1634–5Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 166 The Waves flashed into the Ship at the loop-holes at the stern. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Loop-holes,..small apertures..in the bulk-heads and other parts of a merchant ship, through which the small arms are fired on an enemy who boards her. 1867in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
2. A similar opening to look through, or for the admission of light and air.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Miradero, a watch tower, a loophole. 1606Holland Sueton., Nero xii, His manner was to beholde them..through little loope-holes. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 1110 The Indian Herdsman..tends his pasturing Herds At Loopholes cut through thickest shade. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. iv. (1840) 92 Having a fair loophole..from a broken hole in the tree. 1789Brand Hist. Newcastle I. 175 This passage..has three or four loup holes on each side, all widening gradually inwards. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 291 Loop-holes and slides at top and bottom for the admission of air. 1848Eliza Cook Curls & Couplets xvi. 16 The callow raven tumbles, From the loop-hole of his hiding. 1901Q. Rev. Apr. 505 Not two dozen were capable of duty beyond watching behind loopholes.
b. fig. (Cowper's phrase ‘loopholes of retreat’ has been used by many later writers.)
1784Cowper Task iv. 88 'Tis pleasant through the loop⁓holes of retreat To peep at such a world. 1853Chr. Remembrancer Jan. 59 The loop-holes through which we view the household manners of these times may be few and contracted. 1879G. Meredith Egoist xiii. (1889) 117 Dim as the loophole was, Clara fixed her mind on it till it gathered light.
c. (See quot.)
1842–59Gwilt Archit. Gloss. s.v. Loop, A loophole is a term applied to the vertical series of doors in a warehouse, from which the goods, in craning, are delivered into the warehouse.
3. fig. An outlet or means of escape. Often applied to an ambiguity or omission in a statute, etc., which affords opportunity for evading its intention.[Perh. after Du. loopgat, in which the first element is the stem of loopen to run.] 1663–4Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 143 It would be much below You and Me,..to have such loop-holes in Our souls, and to..squeeze Our selves through our own words. 1682Dryden Dk. of Guise Dram. Wks. 1725 V. 327 Their Loop-Hole is ready, that the Cæsar here spoken of, was a private Man. a1700T. Brown Wks. (1709) IV. v. 329 Some of the Doctor's Counsel has found out a Loop-hole for him in the Act. 1768Foote Devil on 2 Sticks i. Wks. 1799 II. 253 A legal loop-hole..for a rogue now and then to creep through. 1807Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 73 What loop-hole they will find in the case, when it comes to trial, we cannot foresee. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xi. III. 80 The Test Act..left loopholes through which schismatics sometimes crept into civil employments. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvii. 518 Even the ‘confirmatio cartarum’ had left some loopholes which the king was far too astute to over⁓look. 1888A. S. Swan Doris Cheyne iv. 70 Under the guise of motherly solicitude..she had left her without a loophole of escape.
4. attrib. and Comb., as loop-hole door, loop-hole frame; loophole-lighted adj.
1855Act 18 & 19 Vict. c. 122 §14 Loophole frames may be fixed within one inch and a half of the face of any external wall. 1866N. & Q. 3rd Ser. IX. 447/2 A solidly constructed stone staircase that conducts to several dark and loophole-lighted chambers. 1891Daily News 16 Nov. 7/1, I broke and cut a board from one of the loophole doors.
▪ II. ˈloop-hole, n.2 rare.
[f. loop n.1]
The aperture of a loop.
1812–16J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 360 A thread..having a loop-hole at its extremity. In this loop-hole fix a pin.
▪ III. ˈloop-hole, v.
[f. loop-hole n.1]
trans. To cut loop-holes in the walls of; to provide with loop-holes.
1810Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 504 The first [village] is loop-holed and there is an abbatis in its front. 1827Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 184 He had been advised..to have the houses loop-holed. 1842Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. III. 43 note, He [Napoleon]..lies all night in sight of the other army loop-holing its farm-houses. 1842Alison Hist. Europe (1849–50) X. lxvi. §83. 196 The houses adjoining the point expected to be breached were loopholed. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xvi, A stout log-house,..loopholed for musketry on every side.
Hence ˈloopholed ppl. a., ˈloopholing vbl. n.
1664Butler Hud. ii. i. 651 This uneasy loop-hol'd jail,..Cannot but put y'on mind of wedlock. 1870Pall Mall G. 24 Aug. 10 The..loopholing of such farmyards..as occupied places of tactical importance. 1885Gloucestersh. Chron. 14 Feb. 2 From the loopholed walls the rifle puffs shot out continuously. 1900Blackw. Mag. Aug. 244/1 Near the river was the village of Dubba with loopholed houses filled with armed men. |