| 释义 |
▪ I. reptile, n.1|ˈrɛptaɪl, formerly ˈrɛptɪl|
Also 4, 7 reptil, 6 -yll.
[ad. late L. reptile (Vulg.), neut. of reptilis: see reptile a., and cf. F. reptile (1314).]
1. A creeping or crawling animal; spec. an animal belonging to the class Reptilia. † Also collect.
1390Gower Conf. III. 118 Every neddre and every Snake And every Reptil which mai moeve. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1053 All beestes, byrdes, fyshes, reptyll them movyng from place to other. 1634R. H. Salernes Regim. Pref. 2 We observe in Reptiles and other Creatures, that they most incline to that which most consorts with their Nature. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 388 God said, let the Waters generate Reptil with Spawn abundant. 1735Pope Prol. Sat. 331 Eve's tempter thus the Rabbins have exprest, A Cherub's face, a reptile all the rest. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 172 When the animal is obliged to move, it drags itself forward like a reptile. 1863Dana Man. Geol. 5 Of existing Vertebrates the number of species of Fishes is about 10,000; of Reptiles, 2000;..of Mammals, 2000. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 33 The former immunity of Ireland from reptiles.
2. transf. A person of a low, mean, grovelling, or repulsive character.
1749Fielding Tom Jones x. i, For a little reptile of a critic to presume to find fault with any of its parts..is a most presumptuous absurdity. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 170 ⁋12 Reptiles whom their own servants would have despised, had they not been their servants. 1825W. Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 93 These reptiles publish..a newspaper. 1834H. Martineau Farrers iv. 74 Those who shrink from looking fully and kindly even upon those who may be the reptiles of their race. 1974Wodehouse Aunts aren't Gentlemen v. 45 She spoke as follows, her manner and diction similar to those of a sergeant-major addressing recruits. ‘What's the matter with you, you poor reptile?’
3. attrib. and Comb., as reptile house, reptile-man, reptile oil; reptile-like, reptile-spawning adjs.
1834Tait's Mag. I. 232/1 A new marriage of reptile-spawning fraud and time. 1845G. Murray Islaford 57 Feelings foreign to the throng Of reptile-men that walk in slime. 1873W. Carleton Farm Ballads (1893) 119 Some reptile-like deed that coils plain in our sight. 1876Goode Anim. Resourc. U.S. in Smithson. Coll. XIII. vi. 52 Extraction of Bird and Reptile Oils. 1883Nature 3 May 17/1 The most important work undertaken in the Gardens during the past year had been the new Reptile House. 1975J. McClure Snake v. 64 The reptile man at the museum..said..that method of preservation had been abandoned.
▪ II. reptile, n.2 Math.|ˈrɛptaɪl|
Also rep-tile.
[f. rep(licating) tile with a pun on reptile n.1]
A two-dimensional figure of which two or more can be grouped together to form a larger figure having the same shape.
1966S. W. Golomb in Jrnl. Combinatorial Theory I. 281 Certain polyominoes are ‘rep-tiles’, i.e., they can be used to tile enlarged scale models of themselves. 1972C. S. Ogilvy Tomorrow's Math (ed. 2) iv. 73 The following are unproven conjectures... Every rep-tile also tiles a parallelogram... A rep-tile with five or more sides cannot be convex. 1977Sci. Amer. Jan. 110/3 Another kind of nonperiodic tiling is obtained by tiles that group together to form larger replicas of themselves. Solomon W. Golomb calls them ‘reptiles’.
▪ III. reptile, a.|ˈrɛptaɪl, formerly ˈrɛptɪl|
[ad. late L. reptilis (Sidonius), f. rept-, ppl. stem of repĕre to creep (cf. repent a.1) + -ilis -ile. In later examples to some extent an attrib. use of reptile n.1]
1. a. Of animals: Creeping, crawling; reptant.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 388 Some..think that they were so called, because their outward forme representeth some such reptile creature. 1720Gay Rural Sports i. 168 Cleanse them from filth, to give a tempting gloss, Cherish the sully'd reptile race with moss. 1727–46Thomson Summer 241 Wak'd by his warmer ray, the reptile young Come wing'd abroad. 1795Southey Joan of Arc ix. 183 Feel thine own worthlessness, A reptile worm.
transf.1742Young Nt. Th. i. 158 Wrapt round and round In silken Thought, which reptile Fancy spun!
†b. Of plants: Repent. Obs. rare.
1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v., Capreolus, the..tendril by which the Vines and such like reptile plants fasten themselves. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v., Reptile is likewise used, abusively, for plants which creep on the earth, or on other plants.
2. Of the nature of, characterized by, pertaining to, the action of creeping or crawling.
1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v., Its reptile motion may also be explained by a wire wound on a cylinder. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 322 There they continue in a reptile state for a year.
3. transf. Having the characteristics of reptiles; grovelling, mean, low, malignant.
1654Z. Coke Logick p. (a), On the raised wings of whose perfections, the prone and Reptile soul soars a pitch. 1661Blount Glossogr., Reptile or Reptitious, that creeps; or, by privy means, gets to high estate. 1664Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. Pref. 3 These low and reptile Souls. a1734North Lives (1826) III. 382 He was forced to deal in low concerns and reptile conceits that scarce rose from the ground. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxxvi, The small whisper of the..paltry few, And subtler venom of the reptile crew. 1849Robertson Serm. Ser. i. viii. (1866) 134 He will creep and crawl before you to submit to any reptile meanness. 1889Times 23 Nov. 5/3 The semi-official and reptile press..employed to insinuate charges against the Chief of the Staff. |