| 释义 |
▪ I. miser, a. and n.1|ˈmaɪzə(r)|
Also 6 myser, myzer, 7 mizer. β. 6–7 misard, 9 dial. miserd, misert, etc.
[a. L. miser wretched, unfortunate.
The β forms are due to association with the suffix -ard. Sp. and It. misero have, like the Eng. word, the two meanings of (1) wretched, (2) avaricious.]
†A. adj.
1. Miserable, wretched. Obs.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 108 b marg., Manne of all creatures moste miser. 1558T. Phaer æneid ii. E iv b, Again to wepons fourth I flewe, and death moste myser call [L. mortemque miserrimus opto]. 1567Turberv. Epit. etc. 8 Thus must I Miser liue till shee..Doe pittie mee. a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. (1622) 174 Shee assured her selfe I was such a one as would make euen his miser-minde contented with that he had done. 1612Pasquil's Night-cap (1877) 58 And looking forth did see that miser wight, which (like a drowned mouse) stood dropping there.
2. [attrib. use of B. 2.] Miserly. arch. or dial.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. 781 Treasures, scrap't by th' Vsury and Care Of miser-Parents [orig. des ayeuls vsuriers]. 1612W. Parkes Curtaine-Dr. (1876) 30 A miser father finds a thriftlesse sonne. 1729Savage Wanderer iii. 155 The miser-spirit eyes the spendthrift heir. 1789Burns To Mary in Heaven iv, Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes, And fondly broods with miser care! 1810J. Montgomery W. Indies, etc. (ed. 3) 18 Dark through his thoughts the miser purpose roll'd To turn its hidden treasures into gold. 1855Singleton Virgil iii. 63 Ah! fly fell regions, fly a miser shore [orig. fuge litus avarum].
β1825–80Jamieson, Misert, extremely parsimonious.
Comb.1602Breton Mother's Blessing (Grosart) 10/2 Where thou shalt see the mizer-minded-dogge, Frie in the furnace of his molten gold.
B. n.
†1. A miserable or wretched person; a wretch. Obs. (arch. in Scott.)
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 108 b, So did the philosophier call hym a miser, that had no qualitee aboue the commen rate of manne. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 242 b, He paciently suffered the stroke of the axe, by a ragged and Boocherly miser, whiche very ungoodly performed the Office. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. viii. ii. (1886) 128 If these cold prophets..tell thee prosperitie and deceive thee, thou art made a miser through vaine expectation. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iv. 7 Decrepit Miser, base ignoble Wretch. 1608Topsell Serpents 99 Being destitute of..comfort, like a silly Miser..hee trudged home to his owne lodging. 1820Scott Monast. xxiv, And who..is the old miser who stands beside him? 1831― F. M. Perth xv, See thou keep thy scoffs, to pass upon misers in the hospital.
2. One who hoards wealth and lives miserably in order to increase his hoard. Also, in wider use, an avaricious, grasping person, a niggard.
αc1560Misogonus ii. ii. 91 (Brandl), The misers wealth doth hurt his health. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 47 Defence..Which of a weake and niggardly proiection, Doth like a Miser spoyle his Coat, with scanting A little Cloth. 1634Milton Comus 399 The unsun'd heaps Of Misers treasure. 1691Norris Pract. Disc. 265 To see an old shaking Miser among his Bags, like a Scare-Crow in a Field of Corn. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 51 As some lone miser, visiting his store, Bends at his treasure, counts, recounts it o'er. 1818Byron Juan i. cxxiv, Sweet to the miser are his glittering hopes. 1842Newman Par. Serm. V. iii. 50 A miser praising alms⁓giving..is unreal.
β1588Greene Perimedes F, This Melissa flourishing thus in happy fame, the old misard her Father..sought out..a yoong Gentleman. 1623Cockeram 1, Cimbicke. A misard, or niggard. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Miserd, a miser, an avaricious man. 1886Cheshire Gloss.
b. † miser's gallon: ‘a very small measure’ (Nares). miser's sauce: see quot. 1877.
1630J. Taylor (Water-P.) Armado Wks. i. 82 The Drunken Sisse..Her Ordnance are Gallons, Pottles, Quarts, Pints, and the mizers Gallon. 1877Cassell's Dict. Cookery, Miser's Sauce.—Mince some young onions, a little parsley,..and grate a dessert-spoonful of horse-radish. Mix these ingredients with an equal quantity of oil and vinegar.
†c. A niggard in the use of. Obs.
1630J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wks. i. 130 Wine and Ale was so scarce, and the people there such Mizers of it, that [etc.].
▪ II. † ˈmiser, n.2 Obs.
Also 6 mizer.
[Origin uncertain; perh. a use of F. misère, which according to Cotgrave had the sense of a drink made from the washings of bee-hives.]
A kind of sop made with the crumb of bread, etc.
1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. K, They may crumble it [sc. bread] into water well inough, and make mizers with it. 1670–74H. Woolley Queen-like Closet (1684) 169 To make Misers for Children to eat in afternoons in Summer. Take half a pint of good small Beer, two spoonfuls of Sack, the Crum of half a penny Manchet [etc.].
▪ III. miser, n.3|ˈmaɪzə(r)|
Also mizer.
[Origin uncertain.]
A boring instrument used in sinking wells, consisting of an iron cylinder having an opening in the side with a cutting lip, which is attached to the lower end of a boring-rod.
1842Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 168/2 The ‘miser’ can bring up a cubic yard of earth each time it is raised. 1843Min. Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. (1844) II. 59 The advantages of a large diameter were manifest to all practical men, particularly when the auger or ‘miser’ was used. 1875E. Spon Sinking & Boring Wells 56 The valve in the old form of mizer is subject to various accidents which interfere with the action of the tool. Ibid. 57 The conical bottom of the mizer has a triangular-shaped opening.
▪ IV. miser, v.1 rare.|ˈmaɪzə(r)|
[f. miser n.1]
trans. To hoard up in a miserly fashion.
1888G. Macdonald Elect Lady xvi. 144 Before people had money, they must have misered other things! Some girls miser their clothes, and never go decent. 1902Cassell's Suppl., Miser, to keep or hoard like a miser; to save (with up).
▪ V. miser, v.2|ˈmaɪzə(r)|
[Related to miser n.3]
trans. To bring up (earth) by means of a miser. Also absol. Hence ˈmisering vbl. n., boring with a miser.
1842Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 420/1 The misering was continued until the depth of 189 ft. 10 in. was attained. 1843Holtzapffel Turning II. 552 note, In boring large holes, the earth is generally excavated by the process of ‘misering up’. 1855Ogilvie Suppl., Miser, an iron cylinder..in which the earthy matters are collected, or misered-up, in the process of sinking. |