| 释义 |
▪ I. meal, n.1|miːl|
Forms: 1 melu, -o, -a, meolo, meala (inflected melw-, melew-, -ow-, -uw-, meolw-, mealew-); 3–4 mel, 3–6 mele, 4 meel, melow(e, 4, 6 meill, melle, 4–6 meele, 5 meyle, 6 meell, Sc. maill, meil, 6–7 meale, 7– meal.
[Com. Teut.: OE. melo, melw- str. neut. = OFris. mel, OS. melo (MDu. mele, Du. meel), OHG. melo, melaw- (MHG. mel, melw-, mod.G. mehl), ON. miǫl, miǫlv- (Sw. mjol, Da. meel, now mel):—OTeut. *melwom, f. root *mel-, mal-, mul- (pre-Teut. *mel-, mol-, m̥l-), whence Com. Teut. *malan to grind (found in all Teut. langs. exc. Eng.), cogn. w. L. molĕre, OSl. mlěti, Lith. málti, OIrish melim; further cognates are L. mola, molīna (see mill n.), Gr. µύλη, µύλος mill, millstone.]
1. a. The edible part of any grain or pulse ground to a powder. Now commonly understood to exclude the product of wheat (this being called flour). Also spec. in Scotland and Ireland = oatmeal; in the U.S. the meal of Indian corn (= Indian meal: see Indian a. 3). whole meal: see whole.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §11 Swa swa mon meolo syft. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 134 ᵹenim merce nioþoweardne & huniᵹ & hwætenes meluwes smedman. c1200Ormin 1552 Þu sammnesst all þin mele inn an & cnedest itt togeddre. c1300Havelok 780 Hise pokes fulle of mele an korn. 1382Wyclif Num. v. 15 The tenthe part of a busshel of barly melowe [1388 barli meele]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iv. (1495) 84 Branne of whete or of rye,..and also sope and meele of beenes wasshe awaye the fylthe of the face and of all the body. c1440Promp. Parv. 331/2 Meele of corne growndyn, farina. 1508Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 147 As gredy gleddis, ȝe gang With polkis to mylne, and beggis baith meill and schilling. 1546in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 179 The untrue and excessyve tollinge of certayne quarters of wheate meale. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 57 The howse for the markyt folke in Newgate market for to waye melle in. 1611Bible 2 Kings iv. 41 He said, Then bring meale. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 257 Some..feed them with Curds, Barley-meal, Bran, &c. 1775Johnson Journ. W. Isles 68 Her two next sons were gone to Inverness to buy meal, by which oatmeal is always meant. 1832Tennyson Miller's Dau. 104 The very air about the door Made misty with the floating meal. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 137 A third lot was fed on..turnips and bean-meal. 1884Health Exhib. Catal. 159/1 Chick Pea Meal, Mais Cariaro Meal.
b. Applied to the finer part of the ground grain, in contrast with bran. Often fig. ? Obs.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 123, I haue thorowly sifted the disposition of youth, wherein I haue founde more branne then meale, more dowe then leauen. 1607Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 322 He..is ill-school'd In boulted Language: Meale and Bran together He throwes without distinction. 1611― Cymb. iv. ii. 27 Nature hath Meale, and Bran; Contempt, and Grace.
†c. Phr. of the same meal: of the same kind or quality; = L. ejusdem farinæ. Obs.
1611B. Jonson Catiline iv. ii, Except he were of the same Meal and Batch. 1677Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 155 Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, and others of the same meal did many and wonderful things at Paris.
2. transf. A powder produced by grinding (e.g. in linseed meal); a powdery substance resembling flour. In Bot. applied to the powder covering the surface of the leaves, petals, etc., of certain plants.
1549Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 348 Brymston in meale, ij barrelles. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 14 Take fyne mustard sede mele. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 71 Serpentine powder in old time was in meale, but now corned. 1728–46Thomson Spring 536 Auriculas, enrich'd With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves. 1784Cowper Task iii. 538 The bee transports the fertilizing meal From flow'r to flow'r. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 436 The arsenic rises in the form of a white meal. 1870Hooker Stud. Flora 300 [Primula farinosa] Glabrous above, meal below white or sulphur-coloured.
3. attrib. and Comb.
a. Obvious combinations, simple attrib., as meal-ark dial., meal-bag, meal-barrel, meal-chest, meal-drift, meal-dust, meal-girnal Sc., meal-husk, meal-kist Sc., meal-market, meal-mill Sc., meal-pap, meal-poke, meal-sack, meal-sieve, meal-trough; meal-dusty, meal-white adjs.; objective, as meal-† maker, meal-miller Sc., meal-monger Sc., meal-seller, meal-sifter, meal-weigher.
1594Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 199 One *meale arke. 1814Scott Wav. x, When a Whiggish mob destroyed his meeting-house,..intromitting also with his mart and his meal-ark.
1644Essex County, Mass. Probate Rec. (1916) I. 46 Too *meal baggs. 1738New Hampsh. Probate Rec. (1914) II. 622 He knows of no meal Bag that his son had but what he borrowed of him. 1876Wide Awake 72/1 She was bundled up so you would hardly have known her from one of the meal-bags. 1968E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies ii. 34 Father puts three basketsful [of potatoes] into each meal bag.
1840J. Buel Farmer's Comp. 65 The *meal-chest must be occasionally replenished.
1877G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 70 What lovely behaviour Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier *Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
1535Coverdale Isa. xxix. 5 For the multitude of thine enemies shalbe like *meal-dust. 1902Cornish Naturalist Thames 101 Meal-dust hung from every nail, peg, and rope-end on the walls.
1951W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 40 *Meal-dusty polls, glossed plumage.
1548Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 259 Thre *meill girnalis, out of my loft, xxx s.
1839Carlyle Chartism v. (1840) 45 Peasants living on *meal-husks and boiled grass.
1856J. Aiton Clerical Econ. v. (ed. 2) 304 Muck is the mother of the *meal-kist.
a1400in York Myst. Introd. 40 *Mele-makers. 1721Wodrow Ch. Hist. I. 288 John Bryce, Mealmaker, in Cambusnethan parish.
1555–6in Edinb. Burgh Rec. (1871) II. 366 For the irnis at the kirk dur, *meill merkat, flesche merkat. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4169/3 They intend to Let to Farm the Tolls..of the Meal-Market at Fleet-Chanel.
1793State, Leslie of Powis etc. 67 (Jam.) A small island lying between the *meal-mill race, and the north grain of the river.
1892R. Lovett J Gilmour of Mongolia i. 18 Our maternal grandfather..was a farmer and *meal-miller on the estate of Cathkin.
1766Nicol Poems 165 Just like a covetous *meal-monger. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxix, The match between the laird of Kittlegirth's black mare and Johnston the meal-monger's four-year-old colt.
1799Underwood's Syst. Med. (ed. 4) I. 154 Violent convulsions, which disappeared entirely, upon the prohibition of *meal-pap.
17..Robin Hood & Beggar v. in Child Ballads III. 160 His *meal-pock hang about his neck, Into a leathern fang. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. v, Shame be in my meal-poke, then.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 2032 That da he kest than in his nek, Als it was a *mele-sek. 1820Scott Monast. xxxvii, It is always best to be sure, as I say when I chance to take multure twice from the same meal-sack.
1552Huloet, Mealeman or *meale-seller, suffarraneus.
1565Cooper Thesaurus, Farinarium cribrum, a *meale sieue. 1624in Archæologia XLVIII. 148 A meale sive.
1552Huloet, *Mealesifter, pollintor.
1623Minsheu, A *Meale trough, harinal. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 100 The buckets, dipping into the meal-trough, convey the flour to the upper story.
1671F. Phillips Reg. Necess 363 Three *Meal-Weighers. 1812Examiner 19 Oct. 662/2 The Lord Mayor, after inspecting the Meal Weighers Return,..ordered the price of Bread to fall 3d. in the peck-loaf.
1938W. de la Mare Memory 95 This *meal-white snow.
b. Special Comb.: meal-bark, a name for certain species of Cycas, so called on account of the starchy matter in the trunk; meal-beetle, a coleopterous insect (Tenebrio molitor), which infests granaries, etc., and is injurious to flour; meal-berry, the Red Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva ursi (Treas. Bot. 1866); † meal-house, a place where meal is stored; † meal-malt, malt ground to a powder (as for use in distilling); meal-mite, the Acarus farinæ (Syd. Soc Lex. 1890); meal-Monday, a Monday given as a holiday in Scottish universities, formerly for the purpose of allowing the students to go home to fetch enough meal to last till the end of the session; meal-moth, a book-name for two species of moth, Asopia farinalis and Pyralis farinalis, the larvæ of which feed on meal or flour; meal-powder, finely ground gunpowder; meal-tree, the wayfaring-tree, Viburnum Lantana (called also mealy tree); meal-tub, a tub for containing meal; also attrib. in Meal-tub Plot, the pretended conspiracy of the Duke of Monmouth in 1679, the evidence for which consisted of papers found in a meal-tub; meal-worm, the larva of the meal-beetle; meal-worm beetle = meal-beetle.
1822Good Study Med. I. 4 The..*meal-bark (cycas circinalis).
1836–9Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 863/2 The *meal-beetles, Tenebrionidæ.
c1050Suppl. ælfric's Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 185/27 Farinale, *mealehus. c1330Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 518 In j sera emp. pro le Melhous iijd. 1582Breton Fl. Fansie (Grosart) 16/1 The Pastrie, Meale-house, and the roome wheras the Coales do ly.
1702O. Heywood Diaries, etc. (1885) IV. 293 Mr. Oats man with *meal-malt.
1842T. W. Harris Insects injur. Veget. (1862) 475 The *meal-moth (Pyralis farinalis).
1781Thompson in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 260 *Meal-powder is more inflammable than that which is grained.
1796Cutler in Morse Amer. Geog. I. 338 *Mealtree (Viburnum Lantana).
1614Raleigh Hist. World iii. viii. §11. 104 A lewd fellow was brought forth, who said, That he himselfe escaping in a *meale-tubbe, had beene [etc.]. 1681Baxter Answ. Dodwell iv. 53 If this Hypothesis..come out of the Meal-Tub, or forge of Inventers, what shall such men be called? a1715Burnet Own Time iii. (1724) I. 476 They found a paper that contained the scheme of this whole fiction, which because it was found in a Meal tub came to be called the Meal-tub plot.
1658Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xxi. (ed. 4) 193 That Cameleon had been observed to drink water, and delight to feed on *Meal-worms. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. V. 265 But meal-worm insects they..swallowed..most greedily. 1863Wood Nat. Hist. III. 474 The Meal-worm..is the larva of a beetle named Tenebrio molitor.
1860J. Curtis Farm Insects 334 The *Meal-worm Beetle.
▪ II. meal, n.2|miːl|
Forms: 1 mǽl, mél, 2–3 mel, 3 mæl, 3–6 mele, 4 male, 4–6 meel(e, 5 maile, Sc. maill, mell, 6–9 meale, 7 meall, 3– meal.
[Com. Teut.: OE. mǽl neut., mark, sign, measure, fixed time, occasion, meal = OFris. mêl, mâl (in phr. al to mâl always, etmâl space of 12 or 24 hours), OS. -mâl sign, measure (MDu. mael masc., fem., neut., mark, sign, landmark, fixed time, meal-time, Du. maal neut., meal, masc., time), OHG. mâl neut., time (MHG. mâl neut., spot, point of time, meal, mod.G. mal time, mahl meal), ON. mál neut., mark, measure, point or portion of time, meal-time (Sw. mål mark, measure, meal, Da. maal mark, measure), Goth. mēl time (pl. mēla marks, writing):—OTeut. *mæ̂lom, f. Indogermanic root *mē- (Skr. mā-) to measure.]
†1. A measure. Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 184 Diles þreo cucler mæl. c1382Wyclif Ex. xxv. 2 [A] coroun with foure fingur mele heiȝt [Vulg. altam quatuor digitis]. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 154 Al maner wounde þat is madd in þe extremitees of þe lacertis as .iij. fyngir mele brede vndir þe schuldris.
2. a. Any of the occasions of taking food which occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times of the day, as a breakfast, dinner, supper, etc.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliii. 316 Þe ðæt nyle ðearfum sellan ðæt he ðonne on mæle læfð. c1175Lamb. Hom. 31 He wule festen and eaten ȝif he mei et ane mele swa muchel swa et twam. c1205Lay. 19690 ælche dæie on a mæl ure mete trukeð. a1225Ancr. R. 428 Bitweonen mele ne gruselie ȝe nouðer frut, ne oðerhwat. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 469/232 Þo it was time of mele huy wenden to heore mete. 1390Gower Conf. III. 25, I have at every meel Of plente more than ynowh. 14..Dietary 67 in Barbour's Bruce (S.T.S.). Betuix malys drink nocht for na plesand delit. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 21 He to prey for my soule at euery meel, mete or sopeer. 1540–1Elyot Image Gov. 45 b, There shuld be at the leaste .vi. houres betwene euery meale. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 61 They give good fare for foure grosh a meale. 1778F. Burney Evelina xviii, Our breakfast was the most agreeable meal..that we have had since we came to town. 1842A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 193 Meals, then, ought to be early or late in proportion to the habits of the individual. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 72 We set about preparing our evening meal. 1897W. Rye Norfolk Songs 25 ‘He don't like working between meals’ is a succinct description of a lazy man.
b. Without reference to time: An occasion of taking food, a repast. Also, the material of a repast; the food eaten at or provided for a repast. meals-on-wheels: a service, usually provided by a women's voluntary organization, whereby meals are taken by car to old people, invalids, etc. Also attrib.
c1200Ormin 4959 Ȝiff itt iss in þin herrte, To shunenn..derewurrþe mæless. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1484 Ðe fader luuede esau wel, for firme birðe & swete mel. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4204 He wole þe limemele To drawe & uorsuolwe par auenture at one mele. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xx. (1495) 207 Meete shall be lyke and of one manere whyche that men ete atte one meele. c1400Gamelyn 636 He was sore alonged after a good meel. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 13, I shal do late you haue so moche that ten of yow shold not ete it at one mele. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 74 Vnquiet meales make ill digestions. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1025 Their mangled limbs Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal. 1767Jago Edge Hill iv. 77 The lusty Steers..leisurely concoct their grassy Meal. 1853M. Arnold Scholar-Gipsy xii, The blackbird, picking food, Sees thee, nor stops his meal. 1857G. Bird's Urin. Deposits (ed. 5) 274 The earthy phosphates are always abundant after a meal. 1902T. M. Lindsay Ch. & Ministry in Early Cent. ii. 51 They ate together a meal which they themselves provided. 1961Times 17 Jan. 7/1 Of those who get meals-on-wheels, less than 10 per cent have adequate meals on week days when there is no delivery. 1961Guardian 19 Apr. 2/5 The need for an extension of the meals-on-wheels schemes as a contribution to the care of the home⁓bound. 1966‘O. Mills’ Enemies of Bride xii. 106 Having just completed a tour with a Meals-on-Wheels van to less fortunate old ladies, she was dressed in a green, shirt⁓waister dress of the Women's Voluntary Services. 1966‘K. A. Saddler’ Gilt Edge i. 22 I'm on National Assistance. I get Meals-on-Wheels twice a week. 1970J. Fleming Young Man, I think you're Dying ii. 25 On weekday mornings the meals-on-wheels service would bring hot food for the invalid.
transf.1772C. Jenner Town Eclogues ii. 8 When..cits take in their weekly meal of air.
c. † at meal (obs.), at meals: at table; at dinner, breakfast, supper, etc. Similarly † (to go) to meal.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 24 That on clothing is from chele ow to saue: And that othur mete at meel for meseise of thiseluen. 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe 42 b, For moche abundance of drinke at meale, drowneth the meate eaten. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Accubare apud aliquem, to be at the table in a mans house: to sitte at meale with him. 1620Venner Via Recta viii. 185 The wholesomnesse of wine..moderately taken at meale..is..well knowne. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 205 They which fast may goe to meale at ten, eleven, or twelve of the clocke. 1710Steele Tatler No. 235 ⁋3 It was an unspeakable Pleasure to visit or sit at Meal in that Family. 1818Keats Isabella i, They could not sit at meals but feel how well It soothed each to be the other by.
d. to make a meal of, † to make one's meal on: to devour; also, to treat in an over-fussy or laborious manner.
1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 113 O thou mine heire..what strange fish Hath made his meale on thee? 1827Pollok Course T. viii, Slander early rose, And made most hellish meals of good men's names. a1832‘Barry Cornwall’ Eng. Songs 143 Have I..Preyed on my brother's blood, and made His flesh my meal to-day? 1961C. Willock Death in Covert iv. 93 Dyson..was making a meal of everthing. He had carefully paced the distance... He had stuck sticks in the ground. 1968Guardian 22 Aug. 7/2 When university people get on to fashion they make a meal of it. 1970Ibid. 5 Dec. 8/5 He had as one of his guests Inia Te Wiata, whose name has been pretty familiar to radio listeners for some years now but Mr Murray still made a meal, if not a light snack, of promoting it. 1970N. Z. News 21 Jan. 16/4 New Zealand scored 325 for six wickets declared—everyone except M. G. Burgess and G. E. Vivian making a meal of University bowlers. 1971M. Polland Package to Spain vii. 95 His small sharp face was full of righteous outrage... Henry was making a meal of it. 1972J. Eastwood Henry in Silver Frame xxiii. 191, I wouldn't want the gutter-press to make a meal of me.
e. meal's meat, later meal of meat: = sense 2 b. Now dial. (see E.D.D.).
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 6845 A meles mete ȝif thou me. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 36 Crauede..A meles mete for a poure man. c1410Sir Cleges 347 For my labor schall I nott get But yt be a melys mete. c1440Promp. Parv. 321/2 Meel of mete.., commestio. 1511Plumpton Corr. (Camden) p. cxviii, Sir Robert Plomton..paid for every maile of meate..iiijd for himselfe, & iid for his servant. 1530Palsgr. 454/2 In this sence I fynde also je inuite but properly to a meales meate, or to eate. 1613Fletcher, etc. Honest Man's Fort. ii. iii, You never yet had a meales meat from my Table. 1693J. Dryden in Dryden's Juvenal xiv. Notes (1697) 366 King Saturn..gave this Example by making a Meals-meat of his own Children. 1717Entertainer No. 6. 36 The Parasite may smell a Feast at C—t, and go flatter Some-body there for a Meals-meat.
† f. The phrases a merry meal, a sorry meal, were in ME. sometimes used fig. for: Something joyful or the contrary. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 23 O moul þou marrez a myry mele. 14..King & Hermit 425, I..haue hade many merry mele. c1440Lovelich Merlin 2754 Also sone as the dragouns to-gyderes fele, be-twixen hem schal be-gynnen a sory mele.
3. a. The quantity of milk given by a cow at one milking; also, the time of milking.
1613W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iv, Each shepheard's daughter with her cleanly peale Was come afield to milke the morning's meale. 1670Capt. J. Smith Eng. Improv. Reviv'd 176 Northern Milch Cows, one of the least of which shall give 2 Gallons of Milk at one Meal. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Cheese, To make a Cheese of two Meals, as of the Morning's new Milk, and the Evening's Cream-milk, you must do also the same. 1775Johnson Journ. Hebrides 187 A single meal of a goat is a quart. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 58 It may be fitted up with such..coolers as are sufficient to contain a meal's milk. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 459 The milk drawn from the udder at one milking, or meal, as it is termed.
b. dial. (See quot.)
c1830Glouc. Farm Rep. 33 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The cheeses pass through the three presses in this order, advancing a step in their progress at each ‘meal’ or making.
4. attrib. and Comb.: meal-break; meal-going, used attrib. (after church-going); meal-hour, meal-tray; meal-pendant, -pennant, U.S. Navy, a red pennant displayed during meal-times (Cent. Dict. 1890); meal-settle, a seat at meals (? Obs.); meal ticket orig. U.S., (a) a ticket entitling a person to a meal; (b) fig. slang, a source of income or livelihood (esp. a husband or wife regarded as such).
1958Guardian 20 Aug. 1/1 The central committee's advice to busmen..was to insist on full *meal breaks. 1971‘H. Calvin’ Poison Chasers ix. 112 Ronnie Samson had to stop me to let the boys off for a meal break.
1858Hogg Life Shelley II. 295 Startled at his books by the sound of the *meal-going bell.
1802E. Parsons Myst. Visit. IV. 92 He seldom saw her but at *meal hours.
1899Scribner's Mag. XXV. 89/2 The quartermaster..hauled down the *meal pennant.
a1225St. Marher. 11 *Mel seotel softest ant guldene ȝerde alre gold smeatest.
1870O. Logan Before Footlights 248 The rather scrubby party who occasionally purchases..a ‘*Meal Ticket’, and thus gets entrance to the festive dining hall. 1899‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 395 Meal-ticket, a person ‘good’ for a meal. 1912Collier's 23 Nov. 38/2 I've been doin' a lot for her—a regular meal ticket an' ticket agency for her. 1926[see good A. adj. 1 f]. 1929T. Wolfe Look Homeward, Angel (1930) xxvii. 377 She can't bear to give him up... He's her meal-ticket. 1939Ade Let. 7 July (1973) 214 The play remained at the Garden until the following summer and next year it was being played by three companies. It turned out to be my meal ticket. 1972‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral iii. 40 He was her meal-ticket. Why should she want him sent to the pen? 1972Lebende Sprachen XVII. 34/1 US meal ticket—BE [sc. British English] luncheon voucher. 1973Jewish Chron. 2 Feb. 23/5 Our young women do not look for ‘meal-ticket’ marriages.
190519th Cent. Jan. 92 She gets ready the patients' *meal-trays in a tasteful manner.
▪ III. † meal, n.3 Obs.
Forms: 1 méli, meeli, méle, -mǽle, 3–6 mele, 4 miele, 4–5 meel, 5–6 meyle, 6 meale, meele.
[OE. méle, (wæter)-mǽle str. masc., prob. repr. OTeut. type *mæ̂ljo-z, and so corresponding to ON. mǽli-r measure; see meal n.4]
A tub, bucket. Also used as a measure.
In OE. sometimes used to gloss L. patera, carchesium, cyathus, which mean bowl, dish, or cup.
a700Epinal Gloss. 56 Alvium, meeli. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 86 Do þonne mele fulne buteran on. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 240/6 Þat child..Ase it was in ane mele i-baþed al one upriȝt it stod. a1300Cursor M. 3306 Wantes vs here na uessell, ne mele, ne bucket, ne funell. 1357–8Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 124 In j Mele empt. pro carbonibus portandis. 1370–71Ibid. 263 In una mele lingnea pro pedibus lavandis. 1390Gower Conf. III. 21 Thei in hope to assuage The peine of deth..Of wyn let fille full a Miele, And dronken til [etc.]. 1408tr. Vegetius (MS. Douce 291, lf. 47 b), Bokettis, meles, and payles. 1440Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 410, viij meel calcis extinctæ empt...ad xijd. 1459–60Ibid. 89, j kyrn, j meyle, ij Chesfattez. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Alueus..a meele or vessell to washe in. 1567Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 278, iij milk meales.
▪ IV. meal, n.4 Sc.|miːl|
Forms: 5, 8 meel, 6 meale, 7 maile, meill, mell, 8 mail, miel, 9 meil.
[a. ON. mǽli-r measure (Norw. mæle a measure of capacity varying in different localities):—OTeut. type *mæ̂ljo-z, f. *mæ̂lom measure: see meal n.1]
‘A relative weight used in Orkney’ (Jam.).
1597Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Serplaith, Item [in Orknay], 6 settings maks ane mail. Item 24 meales makis ane Last. 1624Witch Trial in Abbotsford Club Misc. I. 148–9 His brother haid twa mells [of corn]. 1629Witch Trial in County Folklore (1903) III. 78 She wantit the proffeitt of ane meill of malt that she was brewing. 1698M. Martin Voy. St. Kilda (1749) 48 Ancient Measures, as the Maile..: this Maile contains ten Pecks. 1793Statist. Acc. Scotl. V. 412 The stipend consists of 86 mails malt (each mail weighing about 12 stones Amsterdam weight). Ibid. VII. 477, 6 settings make 1 meel. Ibid. 563 On the first is weighed settings and miels. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 52 Six setteens or lispunds make a meil.
▪ V. meal, n.5 dial.|miːl|
Also 8 male, 8–9 meale, 9 miol, miel.
[a. ON. mel-r sandbank, also bentgrass (the latter is prob. the original sense; for the development cf. marram).]
A sand-dune.
1706Phillips, Meals or Males, the Shelves or Banks of Sand on the Sea-coasts of Norfolk: Whence Ingom-meals, the Name of a Sandy Shore in Lincoln-shire. 1778Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Edmond's-Chapel, The coast here is secured against the incursions of the sea, by sand heaps, commonly called Meales. 1839Penny Cycl. XVI. 258 Sand⁓hills..locally termed ‘meals’, or ‘marum hills’. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Meales, or Miols, immense sandbanks thrown up by the sea on the coasts of Norfolk, Lancashire, etc. 1897Spectator 209 At present only the highest tides ever cover the surface of the ‘meals’.
Comb.a1893in Cozens-Hardy Broad Norf. 77 Mielbanks, banks of sand blown up by the wind and consolidated by the marum grass—also called ‘meal-banks’. 1899Cornish in Cornhill Mag. Mar. 313 The fascinating but little known region of the ‘meal marshes’ which fringe the North Norfolk coast.
▪ VI. meal, v.1 Somewhat rare.|miːl|
[f. meal n.1]
1. trans. To cover with meal; to powder with meal.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burning Pest. v. i, Enter Jasper with his Face mealed. 1882Garden 21 Jan. 33/3 All their flowers will be more or less mealed on the surface.
b. fig. to meal one's mouth: to become ‘mealy-mouthed’; to speak in gentle terms. ? nonce-use.
1826Southey in Corr. w. C. Bowles (1881) 96 Though there is as much civility as can be desired..yet I have neither mealed my mouth nor minced my words.
2. a. trans. To grind into meal; to reduce to a fine powder. b. intr. To become reduced to meal or powder.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xiii. 89 Meal all these very fine, and mix them together. Ibid., It will Meal presently.
3. intr. To yield or be plentiful in meal.
1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 155 It is a little earlier than the old Polish oat, and meals equally well.
▪ VII. meal, v.2|miːl|
[f. meal n.2]
1. intr. To make a meal; to eat meals; to feed.
1628O. Felltham Resolves (ed. 3) lxxvi. 236 With Earthen Plate, Agathocles (they say) Did vse to meale. 1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 218 There were..worms there.., which would have mealed handsomely upon him. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxx. 109 Mess, any number of men who meal together. 1886M. K. Macmillan Dagonet the Jester 5, I will not meal with a churl, nor moil with a churl. 1891H. C. Bunner Zadoc Pine 201 A lodging-house for those who ‘mealed’ at the hotel. 1918Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. 7 John Lecky..generally arranged to meal at Friends' houses. 1960A. Powell Casanova's Chinese Restaurant 113 ‘Doesn't Carolo ever eat himself?’.. ‘He often meals with us as a matter of fact.’
2. trans. To feed, give fodder to (cattle). ? Obs.
1630Winthrop Let. in New Eng. (1825) I. 378 Some more cows would be brought, especially two new milch, which must be well mealed and milked by the way.
▪ VIII. † meal, v.3 Obs. rare—1.
[Identical with OE. mǽlan, f. mál spot, stain, mole n.1
(Northern dialects have mail vb., to spot, stain, f. mail, northern form of mole: see E.D.D.)]
trans. To spot, stain; by Shakes. used fig.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 86 Were he meal'd with that Which he corrects, then were he tirrannous.
▪ IX. meal
obs. form of mail n.2 |