| 释义 |
▪ I. mat, n.1|mæt|
Also 1 matt (? matte), meatt, meatte, (3 pl. maten), 4–6 matte, 6–8 matt.
[OE. (only in glossaries) matt, meatt str. (? fem.), meatte wk. fem., ad. late L. matta (4th c.), whence It. matta, and the Teut. forms OHG. matta (MHG., mod.G. matte, also dial. matze), MDu. matte (Du. mat), Sw. matta, Da. matte. A synonymous late L. natta (Gregory of Tours, 6th c.), whence F. natte (see nat), is commonly regarded as an altered form of matta, with n for m as in F. nappe table-cloth, from L. mappa.]
1. a. A piece of a coarse fabric formed by plaiting rushes, sedge, straw, bast, etc., intended to lie, sit, or kneel upon, or for use as a protective covering for floors, walls, plants, etc., or in packing furniture.
c725Corpus Gloss. 487 Spiato [for psiato, ψιάθῳ], matte. c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 154/2 Storea. uel psiata, meatta. a1100Voc. ibid. 328/34 Matta, meatte. a1225Ancr. R. 10 Seinte Sare, & seinte Sincletice, & monie oðre swuche weopmen & wommen mid hore greate maten & hore herde heren. c1375S. Austin 1490 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 87/1 In þe chirche an old monk sat, Seyinge his psauter vppon a mat. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 379 Þe matte [L. matta] þat was under hym whan he bad his bedes. 1392–3Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 222 Item pro vj mattes ad cooperiendum le biscwhit in galeia, vjli. xijs. 1462–3Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 279 In duabus mattis emp. pro aula, vij. d. 1511Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden Soc.) 17 Jacobyns..brought vnto vs mattes for oure money, to lye vpon. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 18 Laying them on mattes or couerlettes. 1587–8in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 138 A Matt for the Clarke to kneell vpon, 6d. 1626Bacon Sylva §696 Fleas breed Principally of Straw or Mats, where there hath beene a little Moisture. 1666Pepys Diary 15 June, A very fine African mat, to lay upon the ground under a bed of state. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 128 Shaded over head with Trees, and with Matts when the Boughs fail. 1716Swift Phyllis 15 She..on the Mat devoutly kneeling, Wou'd lift her Eyes up to the Ceiling. a1734North Exam. ii. v. §118 (1740) 388 The Discovery of 80 Musquets in the Lord Grey's House, that were packed in Matts. 1766C. Beatty Two Months' Tour (1768) 44 It is covered with an handsome matt, made of rushes. 1777G. Forster Voy. round World I. 131 They appeared to be dressed in mats. 1830Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) II. 632/2 Mats, swung from trees serve them [S. Amer. Indians] both as seats and hammocks. 1837J. T. Smith tr. Vicat's Mortars 96 Colonel Raucourt de Charleville recommends straw-mats to be suspended in front of the walls. 1856Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 34 In winter, cover with mats during frosty weather.
†b. As the name of a material: Plaited or woven rushes, straw, etc.; matting. Obs. exc. attrib.
1523–4Rec. St. Mary at Hill (E.E.T.S.) 322 Paid for ij yerdys of wykur matt for þe childrens fete, xvj d. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. viii. 175 These are appareilled in matte, made of a certayne softe kinde of mere rushes. 1594–5in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 143, 40 yeardes of matte for y⊇ parishoners to kneele on the time of commvnion. a1619Fletcher Bonduca iv. ii, I defie thee, thou mock-made man of mat. 1688–9in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 348, 461 yards of Matt. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 259 Having..ready for your Work..Woollen-Yarn, Bass-matt, or such like to bind them withal. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 284 Rowles of Matt very naturall at their head and feete. 1732Pope Ep. Bathurst 299 In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half-hung.
c. Applied to bast used for tying plants. Also attrib. in mat-tie. (Cf. matting vbl. n. 3 b.)
1824Loudon Encycl. Gard. §1514 The flat-headed..nail, used either with lists, loops of cord, or mat; and the eyed..nail, used with mat-ties. Ibid. 1519 When mat, bark, rush,..or straw are used [for tying].
d. A bag made of matting, used to hold sugar, coffee, flax, etc.
1798Hull Advertiser 1 Dec. 2/1, 40 mats Lexia raisins. Ibid. 15 Dec. 2/1, 26 matts of best Rake Liebau Flax. 1885Mrs. C. Praed Head Station (new ed.) 157 Sacks of flour and mats of ration sugar.
e. N.Z. A type of cloak or cape worn by the Maori (cf. quot. 1777 under sense 1 a); also used allusively to refer to the Maori way of life.
1807J. Savage Some Acct. N.Z. viii. 50 The dress of the natives consists in a mat finely wove of the native flax. 1832A. Earle Narr. Residence N.Z. (1966) 59 They were clothed in mats, called Ka-ka-hoos. 1840W. Deans Let. 29 Mar. in J. Deans Pioneers of Canterbury (1937) 23 Two New Zealanders, clad in a native mat. 1849W. T. Power Sketches in N.Z. xvii. 146 New habits are rapidly modifying the old ones... In throwing off the mat and the blanket, they also dispense with shark oil and red ochre. 1874J. C. Johnstone Maoria i. 16 The rough pureki..when seen upon the men in the canoes which boarded the first vessels that visited the Island, was not inappropriately called ‘a mat’, and the ugly name came to be applied to any description of garment worn by the Maoris. 1905W. B. Where White Man Treads 54 He is a warrior; and at any moment may cast off his mat and defend his privileges. 1947‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 92 She must have been somewhere to a Maori High School and then come back to the mat. 1970D. M. Davin Not Here, Not Now iii. vi. 197 All a man can do is go back to the mat and cry, or laugh.
f. Bowls. = footer n.1 4.
1892J. Brown Man. Bowling (ed. 2) 69 The mat shall be placed by the lead of the party who lost the previous head. 1910Encycl. Brit. IV. 347/2 The bowler delivers his bowl with one foot on a mat or footer, made of india-rubber or cocoanut fibre, the size of which is also prescribed by rule as 24 by 16 in. 1959Times 12 Aug. 4/6 Their No. 3..went to the mat. 1962Bowls (‘Know the Game’ Series) 4 At the beginning of the first end the mat is placed lengthwise on the centre line of the rink, the back edge to be four feet from the ditch.
g. Phr. on the mat, orig. in army use (see quot. 1919); in trouble with some authority. Cf. on the carpet (s.v. carpet n. 1 b).
1898Pearson's Mag. Oct. 372/2 The sergeant..shouts with military brevity: ‘On to the mat, John Smith.’ [ante, Close to the medical officer's desk is a thick padded carpet about a yard square.] 1917A. G. Empey Over Top 302 On the mat, when Tommy is haled before his commanding officer to explain why he has broken one of the seven million King's regulations for the government of the Army. His ‘explanation’ never gets him anywhere unless it is on the wheel of a limber. 1919Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/1 ‘He's on the mat’ means the same [as ‘He's for the high jump’]; the pre-war orderly room was furnished with a piece of carpet, in the exact centre of which the accused stood. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 154 Mat, on the: up for trial. In trouble. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 92/2 Put on the mat, a thorough questioning, usually by the police. 1949J. R. Cole It was so Late 62 Then I was on the mat again. Now it seems a wonder I kept out of trouble as long as I did. 1973J. Thomson Death Cap x. 136 Mrs Holbrook had been given the impression that she was on the mat in front of her husband's superior officer.
h. A piece of padded material, canvas, etc., used as a floor covering in gymnastics, wrestling, etc. Hence fig., in phr. to go to the mat: to engage in a struggle or controversy; to argue.
1903P. Longhurst Wrestling i. 5 Ordinary gymnasium mats covered with canvas or sail-cloth form the best surface for this style of wrestling. 1924Wodehouse Leave it to Psmith i. 28, I..heard..you and Aunt Constance going to the mat about poor old Phyllis. 1937D. Aldis Time at her Heels i. 26 She just didn't have time at the moment to call him in and go to the mat with him about it. 1950Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IX. 489/1 In this type of wrestling a ‘fall’ is gained by bringing the opponent's two shoulders simultaneously into contact with the mat. 1967V. L. Drehman Head over Heels i. 3 Wide mats must be used for the learner in tumbling. 1970New Yorker 12 Dec. 131/1 These senators felt that the President had handed them two lemons, had gone to the mat for his choices when he didn't have to.
2. a. An article (originally such as is described in sense 1, but now more usually made of other materials) intended to be placed near a door for persons entering to wipe their shoes upon (= door-mat), or similar to those so used.
Now commonly of rectangular shape and considerable thickness; made either of some coarsely woven material (as hemp, coco-nut fibre, latterly often wire), or occasionally of perforated or corrugated indiarubber, cork, etc.
1665Hooke Microgr. 6 A very convenient substance to make Bed-matts, or Door-matts of. a1818Miss Rose in G. Rose's Diaries (1860) II. 75 There had been a heavy mat on the floor-cloth. 1842Browning Pied Piper 51 Only a scraping of shoes on the mat. 1848Dickens Dombey xxiii, They found that exemplary woman beating the mats on the door-steps. 1886Fenn Master of Ceremonies v, He paused on the mat to draw a long, catching breath.
b. A thin flat article (originally made of plaited straw (cf. sense 1), but now of leather, oilcloth, cork, plastic, etc.) to be placed under a dish, plate, or vessel in order to protect the table from heat, moisture, etc. Also applied to various other articles of similar use, e.g. a disk or square of fancy work placed on a dressing-table to support articles of the toilet, etc., or merely for ornament.
1800M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) V. 32 These here half dozen little mats, to put under my dishes. 1852Mrs. Gaskell Let. Dec. (1966) 217 The little ones had worked mats, & gathered flowers &c &c for her dressing-room. 1875in Knight Dict. Mech. 1904Pilot 2 Apr. 307 Muslin hangings to your looking-glass, bows on your chair-rails, mats on your tables.
3. transf. A thick tangled mass.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 164 To break the mats of the raw wool and to render it light. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. ix. 77 A very heavy mat of sandy hair. 1872H. C. Wood Fresh-w. Algæ (1874) 56 A number of individuals of one or more species [of Scytonemaceæ] are almost always associated to form on the ground little mats. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 219/2 The favorite haunts of the bass are about reefs, mats of weeds [etc.]. 1898Pound & Clements Phytogeogr. Nebraska iii. 53 This group is composed of acaulescent or low-stemmed plants which grow aggregated into dense cushion-like mats. 1916B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms (ed. 3) 224/1 Mat, a closely intertwined vegetation, with roots and rhizomes intermixed. 1930Forestry IV. 70 A ‘mat’ of actively growing mycelium of the parasite was present in the watering flasks of many of the cultures. 1971Nature 30 Apr. 599/1 At Kariba..where the lake took 4–5 yr to fill, extensive mats of Salvinia auriculata and Pistia stratiotes accumulated over much of the lake. 1972Science 27 Oct. 403/1 Microbial mats occur in Yellowstone at temperatures up to about 70°C. 1973Nature 4 May 12/1 The meeting concluded with a field trip to the algal mats at the north shore of the Great Salt Lake.
4. Naut. A thick web of rope yarn used to protect the standing rigging from the friction of other ropes.
1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 251 Grete mattes for couerying of the seid Cordage. 1644H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict., Matts are broad clowtes, weaved of synnet and thrums..and are used in these places: To the maine and fore-yards, at the ties, (to keep the yards from galling against the mast) [etc.]. 1769in Falconer Dict. Marine (1780). 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 473 Where it is possible, rounding is now used instead of mats.
attrib.1886R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log iii. 49 Were it not for the many chafing-battens, mat-service, and other gear often renewed upon them.
5. a. The coarse piece of sacking on which the feather-bed is laid (E.D.D.). b. A woollen bed-covering.
1702S. Centlivre Beau's Duel iv. i., I'll have no Matts, but such as lie under the Feather Beds. 1790Pluckley Vestry Bk. 25 Oct. (E.D.D). Fram matt and cords. a1894J. Shaw in R. Wallace Country Schoolm. (1899) 350 In Renfrewshire a mat meant a thick woollen covering for the bed, generally wrought into a pattern.
6. Engineering. A woven structure of brushwood secured by ropes and wires, used as a revetment for river banks.
1884in Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl.
7. Lace-making. (See quot.)
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, Mat, a lace maker's term for the close part of a design.
8. attrib. and Comb.
a. Simple attrib., as mat-awning, mat-bag, mat-house, mat-hut, mat-lodge, mat-roof (hence mat-roofed adj.), mat-sail, mat-satchel, mat-screen, mat-shed, mat-skirt, mat-work;
b. instrumental, as mat-clad, mat-covered adjs.;
c. objective, as mat-forming, mat-maker, mat-making, mat-mender.
d. Special comb.: mat-boat, -braid (see quots.); mat-canvas, a dress material of a coarse texture; mat-grass, (a) Nardus stricta, (b) Psamma arenaria, the marram grass; mat-man slang, a wrestler; mat-platting, in Kindergarten work, the weaving of patterns by means of strips of coloured paper; mat-pole (see quot.); † mat-reed, the leaves of Typha latifolia; mat-rush, the bulrush, Scirpus lacustris; also = matweed; matweed, a name for various rush-like grasses (see quot. 1866 and cf. mat-grass); mat-tree, -wood [tr. F. bois de natte], a species of Imbricaria found in Mauritius; mat-work, (a) matting; anything resembling matting; (b) Arch. = nattes (Cent. Dict.); (c) physical exercises performed on a mat.
1730Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 30 Aug., Received a New *Matt Awning and fixed it for the Main Deck.
1856Faulkner Dict. Comm. Terms, *Mat⁓bags, are formed of the leaves of the date and other palm trees, and are extensively used in Bombay and many parts of India for packing goods.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Mat boat.., a frame of ways supported on scows, on which mat for revetment is woven.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, *Mat-braid, a thick worsted Braid, woven after the manner of plaiting,..employed as a trimming.
1902Daily Chron. 14 June 10/4 *Mat canvas is decidedly a fashionable fabric.
1852G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes II. xiii. 386 These are the lineal successors to the tattooed, *mat clad, cannibal old caterans.
1903Blackw. Mag. Nov. 605 The cat..scrambles quickly on to the *mat-covered floor.
1951Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) IV. 1878/1 [Saxifraga] Section 2. Hirculus. *Mat-forming plants with undivided, deciduous, oval leaves. 1971D. Bartrum Rock Gardens vii. 162 The ‘Cheddar Pink’ is another very tough mat-forming plant that doesn't mind being walked upon when not in flower.
1789J. Pilkington View Derbysh. I. 331 Nardus stricta, *Matgrass... This grass is stiff and hard to the touch. 1818Latrobe Jrnl. Vis. S. Africa 372 [St. Helena] A peculiar kind of grass, called mat-grass, from its spreading..over the ground in such thickness, that it forms a cover resembling thick matting.
1898W. C. Scully Between Sun & Sand 18 (Pettman), On either side of it stood respectively, a *mat-house and a square tent.
1882Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 195 We found a small village of three or four families and as many *mat huts.
1807P. Gass Jrnl. 203 We encamped at two *mat-lodges of the natives.
1530Palsgr. 599/1, I knyt, as a *matte maker knytteth, je tys. 1881Instr. Census Clerks 17 Mat maker.
1854Thoreau Walden 283 Might not the basket, stable-broom, *mat-making, corn-parching, linen-spinning, and pottery business have thrived here? 1890Ld. Lugard Diary 21 Feb. (1959) I. ii. 111 The Banga reed grows by the river here, but very poorly, and useless for building and mat-making.
1923N.Y. Times 11 Feb. i. ii. 1/4 (heading) Navy *matmen on top. In a finely contested wrestling match..the Naval Academy won. 1930Ibid. 16 Feb. xi. 3/5 It was..the first time in four seasons that the Midshipmen have been able to take the measure of the matmen from South Bethlehem. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §707/2 Matman. 1968Globe & Mail Mag. (Toronto) 17 Feb. 8/3 He became one of the best known mat men in Canada. ‘Wrestling always fascinated me,’ he says now. 1971Soviet Weekly 8 May 14 A popular group exercise among the matmen.
1880Plain Hints Needlework Gloss. 76 The rudimentary teaching of this darning is taught in the Kindergarten system, under the name of ‘*mat platting’.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Mat pole.., a pole..used in placing mats of brush for shore protection, jetties, etc.
1578Lyte Dodoens iv. liii. 513 The leaues are called *Matte reede, bycause they make mattes therewith.
1897Daily News 15 Jan. 5/3 The snake was sliding through the *mat roof.
1895Kipling Day's Work, Maltese Cat, Some of them were in *mat-roofed stables close to the polo-ground.
1578Lyte Dodoens iv. lii. 511 The fourth is called..in English, the pole Rushe, or bull Rushe, or *Mat Rushe. 1611Cotgr., Ionc à cabas, the pole-rush, mat-rush, fraile-rush. 1640[see matweed].
1894B. Thomson S. Sea Yarns 80 The great *mat-sail was spread upon the sand.
1777G. Forster Voy. round World II. 321 Most of them were married, and carried their children in a *mat-satchel on their backs.
1926M. Leinster Dew on Leaf i. iii. 41 Warehouses, *mat-sheds, and hovels. 1939‘A. Bridge’ Four-Part Setting ii. 8 To sit in a mat-shed on the sand and drink cocktails.
1908Daily Chron. 15 Aug. 1/6 A Maori chief..saying..he was to fasten the native *mat-skirt about his body.
1812tr. De Guigne's Observ. in Pinkerton's Voy. XI. 92 Among the trees of the Isle of France must be noticed..the *mat tree [orig. bois de natte].
1597Gerarde Herbal i. xxviii. §2. 38 Hooded *Mat weede. Ibid. §3. 39 English Mat weede hath a rushie roote. 1640Parkinson Theatr. Bot. xiii. xxxv. 1197 Matt weed or Mat Rushes... Our Matweed or Marram..the other of our Sea Matweedes. 1787tr. Linnæus' Fam. Plants I. 41 Lygéum. Mat-weed. 1866Treas. Bot., Matweed, Ammophila arenaria, also called Sea Matweed. Hooded Matweed, Lygeum Spartum. Small Matweed, Nardus stricta.
1793Trapp tr. Rochon's Voy. Madagascar Introd. 28 [In the Isle of France are] *mat⁓wood, tacamacca, stinking-wood [etc.].
1859R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 290 A thick growth of aquatic vegetation, which forms a kind of *matwork. 1944Horizon Jan. 48 P.T. exercises..mat work, track work.
▪ II. mat, n.2|mæt|
Also matt.
[a. F. mat, subst. use of mat, mat a.]
1. Glass-painting. A layer of colour ‘matted’ on the glass (see mat v.2 b).
1881Art Interchange (N.Y.) 27 Oct. 90/3 [Painting on glass.] Laying a mat will greatly facilitate tracing... There are two kinds of mat in use, ‘water mat’ and ‘oil mat’. 1896H. Holiday Stained Glass i. 23 Stipple-shading..is in common use now together with another method, consisting of a series of ‘matts’.
2. a. Gilding. The effect of ‘mat’ or unburnished gold. b. Metalwork. A roughened, frosted, or figured groundwork.
1866Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts I. 757/2 (Gilding.) Parts of the gilding which are to be in dead gold, (called matt). 1887L. L. Haslope Repoussé Work 51 These [markings] may be arranged so as to touch one another, forming a close mat, or placed a little distance apart, as an open mat, so as to form a grounding to the picture.
3. A sheet of cardboard placed on the back of a print or drawing and then covered by a mount which forms a margin round the area of the print; also used for the mount itself. Cf. mount n.2 3 a. Also attrib.
1845Pract. Hints on Daguerreotype 37 Leather Cases, with..gilt mats and glasses complete. 1886P. Fitzgerald in Art Jrnl. 327/1 It is common..to set off water-colours with a broad golden mat of pasteboard. Ibid., A snow-white cardboard mat. 1890Howells Shadow of Dream 163 Engravings with wide mats in frigid frames of black. 1909F. Weitenkampf How to appreciate Prints xiii. 291 Sometimes mat and mount are fastened together on all four sides, forming what is known as a ‘sunk mount’. 1932― Quest of Print xii. 270 Some collectors place a sheet of celluloid, cellophane, or similar material..over the print and under the mat. 1965Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints vii. 100 Quality of Mat Board. Only 100 percent rag-fiber mat stock is to be used. 1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. B. 58/7 Sometimes prints come with a mat (white space around the art), but the framed picture is much better if the mat is made from a mat board. 1973F. Taubes Painter's Dict. Materials & Methods 149 Made, as a rule, from cardboards of various colours, mats serve in the framing of watercolors and all kinds of prints... The width of a mat..should be equal on top and at the sides but somewhat greater at the bottom, or the picture will have a tendency to ‘droop’. 1974P. Highsmith Ripley's Game v. 50 He needed more mat paper.
4. = matting-punch.
1890Home Handicrafts (ed. Peters) 19 (Repoussé work.) When backgrounds with patterns upon them are required, punches shaped like crescents at the point, or as circles, stars, crosses, will be required. These fancy punches..are technically called ‘mats’. 1898T. B. Wigley Goldsm. & Jeweller 79 Punches of various shapes, called..Freezer-Mat. Dead Mat. Hair Mat.
5. attrib.
1876Encycl. Brit. V. 170/1 Matt-work is protected with one or two coats of finish-size; but burnished gold is [etc.]. 1896H. Holiday Stained Glass i. 24 The painter has..to repeat the two matt processes.
▪ III. mat, n.3 Card-playing.|mæt|
[Short f. matador.]
= matador 2.
1766[Anstey] Bath Guide Epil. 10 Madam Shuffledumdoo..Has sold your poor Guide for two Fish and a Mat. 1861Macm. Mag. Dec. 131 The three best trump cards..are called Matadores..or shortly Mats.
▪ IV. mat, n.4 dial.|mæt|
[Either shortened from or cogn. with mattock.]
A tool for stubbing furze, ling, etc.; a mattock (E.D.D.).
▪ V. mat, n.5
Colloq. abbrev. of matinée.
1914G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. viii. 55 Although Mr. Compton won't take me to any balls, there are the movin' pictures and the mats—matinées. 1940Amer. Speech XV. 204/2 Mats, matinees.
▪ VI. mat, n.6
Abbrev. of matrix 4.
1923M. V. Atwood Country Newspaper 20 Just a word should be added about matrices, or ‘mats’ as they are always called. 1937E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 172/1 This matrix or ‘mat’ is then baked and used for making a metal plate for flat or roll printing. 1942F. Brown Angels & Spaceships (1955) 38 The cost of getting special Linotype mats cut would be awfully high. 1967V. Strauss Printing Industry v. 225/2 Matrices, called mats by the industry, are intermediate elements in the production of stereotypes but they are also independent items of commerce. Ibid. 226/1 During mat-making an intaglio replica of the original relief material is produced. 1975Printing Historical Soc. Newslet. No. 28. 3 A few large display matrices of the Caslon series (original founders' mats) are offered to PHS members.
▪ VII. mat, v.1|mæt|
[f. mat n.1]
1. trans. To cover or furnish with mats or matting. to mat up: to cover (a plant) with matting.
1549Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 269 To James Rufford for matting of the chambers at Westminster. 1576–7Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 717 For mattinge y⊇ com'on pue, 2s. 8d. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 24 Temples, kept cleane and matted neatly. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. Dec. 81 Keep the Doors and Windows of your Conservatories well matted. 1672–3Churchw. Acc. E. Budleigh (1894) 13 For stopping of the presentment at the Deane Ruralls Renewing ffor nott matting the seates. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 200 ⁋14 He mats his stairs and covers his carpets. 1782F. Burney Cecilia i. xi, The three eldest..were hard at work with their mother in matting chair-bottoms. 1851Beck's Florist Aug. 184 It will withstand the vicissitude of our climate when planted against a wall, if matted up during severe frosty weather. 1882Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 52 A side room..well and neatly built of mud, and matted with pīsh matting.
2. transf. To cover as with a mat or matting; to cover with an entangled mass.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 80 The ground is matted, and as it were netted with the remaines of the olde Rootes. 1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. vi. 13 With what Herbage the Crust or Sword is matted, mantled and swarthed. 1627Drayton Quest of Cynthia 76 The Banck with Daffadillies dight, with grasse like Sleaue was matted. 1747Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 II. 82 Take the whole together, it is well matted, and looks like a green corn-field. 1825Greenhouse Comp. I. 167 If the ball is much matted with roots..it is a sure indication of the vigour of the plant. 1849Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xix. (1866) 243 A temple..matted with ivy. 1901Scotsman 29 Oct. 9/1 Mountain chains of Oregon and Washington, matted with the towering growth of the mighty evergreen forest.
3. To form into a mat:
a. to entangle or entwine (together) in a thick mass.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 51 When I haue thus done, I matte it [sc. a plashed hedge] thicker and thicker euery yeere. 1626Bacon Sylva §746 Bats haue beene found in Ouens, and other Hollow Close Places, Matted one vpon another. 1682H. More Contin. Remark. Stories 35 In the night, the Daughter had..her hair snarled and matted together in that manner, that [etc.]. 1701Grew Cosm. Sacr. i. iv. §17. 19 In the Skin..the Fibers are Matted, as Wooll is in a Hat. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 594 To..disentangle the boughs where they had matted themselves together. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. II. 9, I sought my mother's grave: the weeds were already matted over it. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 120 Sometimes the material which mats the intestines together can be stripped off.
b. To make by interlacing, to form into a mat.
1824Loudon Encycl. Gard. §1506 Garden or bass mats are woven or matted from the bast or inner bark of..the lime. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. vii. 188 Weaving, which consists of matting twisted threads.
4. intr. To become entangled, to form tangled masses. Chiefly with together.
1742Lond. & Country Brew. ii. (ed. 2) 92 Malt..in that Time, would grow musty, or matt together. 1763Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. IV. 144 They will mat together, and rot each other. 1847Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. i 69 The [wheat] plants get too forward, and do not mat on the ground. 1851Ibid. XII. i. 134 The wheat..began then to mat and to tiller. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 339/1 It is these proportions of the wool which interlock and mat together in the milling process. 1897Rhoscomyl White Rose Arno 217 In the face of this bluff there dripped and matted a close-grown thicket of oak and ash, hazel and holly.
Add:5. trans. To reprimand or admonish as a superior; = carpet v. 4. Usu. in pass. Cf. mat n.1 1 g. colloq.
1948Sunday Pictorial 29 Aug. 7/3 Carpet, a three month sentence; carpeted, on a charge for misbehaviour (also ‘cased’ or ‘matted’). 1969‘W. Haggard’ Doubtful Disciple iv. 44 The interviewer had been matted and now he was uncertain. 1982Sunday Times 10 Oct. 1/1 He'd been cornered and couldn't approve because he'd be matted by the bishops if he did.
▪ VIII. mat, v.2|mæt|
[a. F. mater, f. mat: see mat, mate adjs.]
trans. To make (colours, etc.) dull; to give a ‘mat’ or dull appearance to (gilding, metal, etc.); to frost (glass).
1602Kyd's Sp. Trag. iii. xii. H 3 b, I'de haue you paint me..In your oile colours matted. 1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v. Gilding, The work being thus far gilt, when dry, remains either to be burnished, or matted... To mat, is to give it a light lick in the places not burnished, with a pencil dipt in size. 1854Reinnel Carpenters etc. Comp. 74 Those parts of your work which look dull from not being burnished, are now to be matted, that is, are to be made to look like dead gold. 1877G. E. Gee Pract. Gold-worker 133 A design may be rendered more distinct after the pattern has been greatly brought out in relief by simply matting the ground. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 173 The Swiss silver the work first and then mat it by scratch brushing. 1898H. Maclean Photogr. Print Process xvi. 137 Many a time a print is distinctly improved by being on the one hand matted, or, on the other, enamelled. 1900Cassell's Cycl. Mech. (1902) I. 153/2 Now pour on white acid, and let it remain until the glass is matted.
b. Glass-painting. ‘To cover (glass) with gum or other colour, smoothed over with a badger softener’ (Suffling Glass-painting, 1902).
1885F. Miller Glass-Paint. 53 A method frequently resorted to..to give tone and softness to white glass is to matt each square when traced, with umber or ancient brown.
▪ IX. mat, v.3|mæt|
[f. mat n.4]
trans. To break up with a mattock.
1855Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVI. ii. 319 It is a better way to mat up the hassocks and ant-hills.
▪ X. mat, v.4|mæt|
[f. mat n.2 3.]
trans. To mount a print on a cardboard backing, or to provide it with a border. So ˈmatted ppl. a.; ˈmatting vbl. n.
1965Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints vii. 100 The collector or owner who will have to rely on commercial framers to have his prints matted is cautioned to insist on the following points. Ibid. 104 If the matted print belongs to a study collection and is stored horizontally, hinging at the side is preferable because it makes for easier and safer handling. 1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. B. 58/7 Oil paintings, on the other hand, do not take glass or matting. 1968P. Nuttall Picture Framing ii. 24 Different papers can be used to surface the mounting (matting) boards before the window is cut.
▪ XI. mat
see mate, matt a., matte, may v.1, mete v.
▪ XII. mat
(in Cinematography): see matte3. |