| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈmuck-rake, n.
A rake for collecting ‘muck’. Also fig.
The source of the figurative use is Bunyan's description of ‘the Man with the Muck-rake’, which was intended as an emblem of absorption in the pursuit of worldly gain; but in modern use it is often made to refer generally to a preference for what is comparatively worthless over that which is valuable, or to a depraved interest in what is morally ‘unsavoury’ or scandalous.
1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. (1900) 184 The Interpreter..has them first into a Room, where was a man..with a Muckrake in his hand. 1870Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xxxix. 6 Those all-gathering muckrakes, who in due time are succeeded by all-scattering forks, which scatter riches as profusely as their sires gathered them promiscuously. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 618 Muckrakes,..persons who ‘fish in troubled waters’, from the idea of their raking up the muck to see what valuable waifs and strays they may find in it. 1895Sat. Rev. 26 Jan. 125 The ‘garbage of mythland’ that Wagner gathered together with a ‘muck rake’. 1906Sun (N.Y.) 12 Apr. 8/3 On Saturday the President is to pronounce the formal address at the grave of the Man With the Muck Rake... The Muck Rakers worked merrily for a time in their own bright sunshine, and an unthinking populace applauded their performance. 1906T. Roosevelt in Cincinnati Enquirer 15 Apr. 4/4 The men with the muck-rakes are often indispensable to the well⁓being of society; but only if they know when to stop raking the muck. c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 18 Then you start your muckrake scandel [sic] And good men you dare defame. 1968Listener 28 Nov. 726/2 Frank Harris deplored the dismal fate of Sophia in a Paris boarding-house,..regretting that Bennett..preferred to give her a muck rake instead of a soul.
▪ II. ˈmuck-rake, v.
1. [f. the n.] intr. To rake refuse together. Usu. fig.
1879F. Harrison Choice Bks. iv. (1886) 82 Men, forgetful of the perennial poetry of the world, muckraking in a litter of fugitive refuse. 1954Amer. Scholar XXIII. 421 McCarthy would enjoy himself if he could muckrake in our barnyard. 1970Guardian 6 Mar. 8/3 They need no prompting to register complaints, muckrake among the police, petition for redress against indecencies.
2. trans. [Back-formation f. ] To subject (powerful persons or institutions) to allegations of corruption or other illegal or scandalous behaviour; to discover and publish (such scandals); to examine (political districts) so as to determine the extent of corruption. U.S.
1910N.Y. Even. Post 10 Dec. 8 Their knowledge of how it feels to be a muck-raked millionaire. 1913J. London Let. 26 June (1966) 388, I..muck-rake the powers that be from one end of the world to the other. 1931Time & Tide 22 Aug. 991/2 Steffens was more successful with his experiments when he was muckraking America's big cities. 1943M. Flavin Journey in Dark 193 The country has been muckraked from one end to the other. 1973G. Jenkins Cleft of Stars vii. 86, I couldn't bring myself to muck-rake details of the guard's murder.
Hence ˈmuck-raking, ˈmuck-raked (U.S.), ppl. adjs.
1906Daily Rec. & Mail 19 Dec. 5 Few popular institutions in America have escaped violent attacks by muck-racking reformers. 1910Muck-raked [see muck-rake v.2]. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 7/1 This exciting suspicion about personal plots and dastard motives everywhere led to the popularity of the muckraking press. 1972J. Philips Vanishing Senator (1973) ii. i. 48 A muck⁓raking journalist who's gotten rich on other people's misfortunes. |