| 释义 |
▪ I. mall1|mɔːl|
Also 7 mell, 8 maul.
[A special application of mall, maul n.1, in the 17th c. taken to represent certain contemporary senses of the F. mail, which is etymologically identical with the Eng. word. Cf. pall-mall.]
1. The mallet (cf. maul n.1 2) used in the game of ‘mall’ or ‘pall-mall’; = pall-mall 1.
1662Order-bk. Gen. Monck 26 Apr. in N. & Q. 9th Ser. VIII. 14/2 That noe persons shall after play carry their malls out of S. James's Parke without leave of the said keeper. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Mall,..the Instrument with which the Ball is struck is also called a Mall. 1711Addison Spect. No. 195 ⁋1 He took an hollow Ball of Wood..He likewise took a Mall. 1884J. Payne Tales fr. Arabic I. 123 The king's son was playing in the exercise-ground with the ball and mall.
2. a. A certain game; = pall-mall 2.
1646Evelyn Diary (Chandos ed.) 193 Having seene this field and play'd a game at Mall. 1675Cotton Scoffer Scoft 103 But playing with the Boy at Mall,..I strooke the Ball..A pretty height into the Air. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 154 The diversion [goff]..resembles that of the Mall, which was common in England in the middle of the last century. 1868W. J. Whitmore Croquet Tact. 4 The Mall received its name from having been appropriated to the purpose of playing at mall.
†b. Applied to polo; = pall-mall 2 b. Obs.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 297 A certain Game, which the Persians call Kuitskaukan, which is a kind of Mall. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 79 There are two Banks..which serve for playing at the mall on horse back, and the bowl must go betwixt those Banks.
3. The alley in which the game of ‘mall’ was played. = pall-mall 3.
1644Evelyn Diary 2 May, The mall [at Tours] without comparison is the noblest in Europe... Here we play'd a party or two. a1687Waller On St. James's Park 64 No sooner has he touched the flying ball But 'tis already more than half the Mall. 1687R. Ferrier Jrnl. 34 (Camd. Soc. Misc. IX.), There are several handsome walks, one whereof..is a decayed Mell. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., The Instrument..is also termed a Mall, and the Place where the Gamesters play. 1812Cobbett in Examiner 19 Oct. 671/1 Noble Ladies, who graciously condescended to become housekeepers and sweepers of malls.
4. a. Now usu. pronounced |mæl|. the Mall: a walk bordered by trees in St. James's Park, London, which was originally a ‘mall’ in sense 3, and was a fashionable promenade in the 17–18th c. † High Mall: the time when the throng of promenaders in the Mall was at its height; also transf., ? a fashionable assembly in the open air.
1674J. D. (title) The Mall: or the Modish Lovers. A Comedy. Ibid. i. ii, I will be in the Mall, as soon as it begins to be dark, if I can get from my husband. 1676D'Urfey Mad. Fickle iii. i, You may repair that inconvenience in the Mall to night Sir. 1706Reflex. upon Ridicule 128 We see them in the Maul and in the Park walking, giggling, with their sparks. 1710Palmer Proverbs 203 The intrigues of the mall and the playhouse. 1712Spect. No. 437 ⁋4 Were you to see Gatty walk the Park at high Mall. 1727Fielding Love in Sev. Masq. i. iv, Well, gentlemen, are you for the Mall this morning? 1752A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 9 In St. James's Park, at high Mall, on Sunday next. Ibid., High Mall at the Bedford Coffee-House To-morrow Evening. 1775Sheridan Rivals ii. i, I've travelled like a comet, with a tail of dust..as long as the Mall. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric., Digest 5 She resembles a..cottage-bred Country-housewife..parading the Mall of Taste amidst modern Petits-Maitres. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 64 He appeals to the smooth and level mall, and the carefully preserved canal of St. James's Park.
b. transf. A sheltered walk serving as a promenade; in some towns adopted as a proper name. Also, a shopping-precinct.[Cf. F. mail, used in various towns for a shaded walk, which in many instances was orig. an alley for playing mall.] 1737Earl of Oxford in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 169 The churchyard is well planted, the walks gravelled; this is the Mall for the beaux and belles of Chelmsford. 1752Mrs. Delany Lett., to Mrs. Dewes 134 It is the mall of Drogheda. 1808Norfolk Tour, Norwich (ed. 6) 248 The new walk or mall from the bars by the work⁓house to Gannock-gates. 1838Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 298 Afterwards walked in the Mall [Boston, U. S.] in the cool of the evening. 1883F. M. Crawford Mr. Isaacs i. 7 Such of the changing crowd on the verandah and on the mall [at Simla] as caught my attention. 1914Joyce Dubliners 24 All the branches of the tall trees which lined the mall were gay with little light green leaves. 1963Observer 15 Sept. 23/6 The central paved avenue, or ‘mall’ [in a shopping-centre], wider than any street, with booths in the middle. 1969Daily Tel. 19 Aug. 13/2 Basically, the housewife is demanding more comfort and convenience in shopping. This means covered and heated ‘malls’ with car-parking facilities adjacent. 1974Economist 21 Dec. 47/1 The developers have discovered an even more potent device for generating sales: the rigidly controlled ‘shopping environment’ of the enclosed malls... Woodfield Mall, near Chicago..includes 235 stores in a roofed-over area of 191 acres. 1975Times 19 Feb. 4/8 Malls smoke danger. Special fire precautions are needed in single-storey shopping malls.
5. Comb., as (sense 1) mall-maker; (sense 3) mall-keeper.
1708Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 354 Mrs. Masham, mall keeper of St. James's Park, worth 500l. per ann. 1901T. J. Jeakes in N. & Q. 9th Ser. VII. 353/1 The mall-maker's shop was on the same road.
▪ II. mall2 Hist. rare—1.
[ad. med.L. mallum, -us: see mallum and mail n.2]
A convention or assembly among the Franks.
1855Milman Lat. Chr. iv. x. (1864) II. 441 Councils, which had been as frequent as diets or malls, ceased.
▪ III. mall
see maul, maw. |