| 释义 |
pearly, a. (adv., n.)|ˈpɜːlɪ|
[f. pearl n.1 + -y.]
A. adj.
1. a. Round and lustrous like a pearl, as a dewdrop, etc.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 242 Whan Aurora,..Sent on herbys the peerly dropys sheene. 1508Dunbar Goldyn Targe 14 The perly droppis schake in silvir schouris. 1646Crashaw Poems 113 The treasure of thy pearly dew. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. xi. 342 The little pearly globe which we call a dew-drop.
b. Like pearl in appearance or lustre.
1603Drayton Bar. Wars vi. xviii, The siluer-Trent on pearly sands dooth slide. 1651Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year II. xi. 136 Casting its pearly seeds for the young to breed, it [the silk-worm] leaveth its silk for man. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. xi. (1869) I. 232 Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness. 1811Pinkerton Petralogy I. 380 Lustre, from glimmering to shining; between pearly and vitreous. 1839G. Bird Nat. Philos. 393 A tough, pearly opaque membrane, termed the sclerotic coat. 1873Daily Tel. 26 May 4/1 The pearliest complexions did not shrink from exposure to the morning air.
2. a. Abounding in, having, or bearing pearls.
1619T. Milles tr. Mexia's, etc. Treas. Anc. & Mod. T. II. 977/2 The flesh..or body of the Pearly Oyster. 1714Gay Ep. to Lady 24 Here I..call'd the Nereids from their pearly cells. a1821Keats Hyperion i. 355 Like to a diver in the pearly seas.
b. Abounding in, or characterized by, mother-of-pearl; nacreous.
1667Milton P.L. vii. 407 Through Groves Of Coral stray..Or in thir Pearlie shells at ease, attend Moist nutriment. 1714Gay Trivia iii. 197 The man..that on the rocky shore First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat. 1776Da Costa Conchol. 286 The Pearly Chambered Nautilus, or Sailor. 1822Owen (title) Memoir on the Pearly Nautilus.
3. a. Made of, set with, adorned with pearls or pearl.
1742Collins Ode to Liberty 44 Deck'd with pearly pride. 1818Keats Endym. ii. 117 The pearly cup Meander gave me. Ibid. iii. 212 Beside this old man lay a pearly wand.
b. pearly gates: the gates of heaven as described in Rev. xxi. 21, used allusively.
1853C. F. Alexander Hymn, ‘The roseate hues’, Oh! for the pearly gates of heaven! Oh! for the golden floor! 1927H. Crane Let. 29 May (1965) 300 If I can avoid the pearly gates long enough I may do better. 1953[see dodger a.]. 1969J. Wainwright Big Tickle 72 Dago said: ‘A shiv kick—and pearly gates.’ 1973J. Porter It's Murder with Dover xvi. 162, I heard somebody'd pushed that Marsh cat through dem pearly gates. 1977Gay News 24 Mar. 21/4 Perfection's death to me, the pearly gates, and I do think pearl's awfully vulgar for gates.
c. Pearly King (or Pearly Queen): a leading London costermonger, dressed in festive costume covered with pearl-buttons.
1933Times 26 Aug. 9/5, I wrote..to ‘Snowy Tabram, Pearly King, Islington,’ asking him when and where the annual meeting of the Pearlies would take place. 1934Times 1 June 13/3 The Rev. A. D. Belden..unveiled yesterday..a statue of Henry Croft, the ‘pearly king’, who died four years ago. The statue represents Mr. Croft in his ‘pearly king’ clothes with top hat. 1935F. W. Tickner London through Ages xiv. 286 (caption) ‘Pearly King and Queen’ of the Costermongers. 1942Wyndham Lewis Let. 27 Jan. (1963) 315 They go about talking to themselves—in the purest idiom of the Pearly King. 1963Times 16 May 15/5 Reminding me of one of the ‘Pearly Kings’ or button-covered costermongers that I had seen in London when I was a boy. 1967E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 41 Most pearly kings and queens design and make their own costumes, the decoration being made up entirely of pearl buttons sewn on the fabric of the suit or dress. 1975Evening News 26 Apr. 4/1 Pearly King Bill Davison raised thousands of pounds for charity. 1977Times 28 Jan. 16/6 The silver-painted London double decker, decorated with Cockney slogans, pictures of buskers and an advertisement for an insurance company, is the contribution of the Pearly kings and queens of London to the Queen's silver jubilee, and will be used to raise money for a recently-formed Pearlies' charity appeal.
4. Of the clear greyish- or bluish-white colour of pearl, esp. as pearly grey.
c1790J. Imison Sch. Art II. 61 Beneath the eyes, the pleasing pearly tints are to be preserved, composed of verditer and white. 1832H. Martineau Each & All iv. 53 The dressing room lamp shed a pearly light through the room. 1845Punch VIII. 247 The following terms..may be used pretty much at random: ‘Chiaroscuro’, ‘texture’, ‘pearly greys’, ‘foxy browns’. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxix, A costume of pearly grey. 1978I. Murdoch Sea 437 A thick clammy pearly-grey mist surrounded the house.
5. fig.
a. Exceedingly precious (like a precious pearl); of supreme (spiritual) purity or lustre.
1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 69 You are too much, too pearly, too precious a treasure. 1893J. Pulsford Loyalty to Christ II. 148 We begin to long..that we may be pearly and Christ-like throughout.
b. Having a clear, round, sweet tone.
1890in Cent. Dict.
6. Comb., as pearly-coated, pearly-coloured, pearly-teethed adjs.
1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schism 401 By night, the Moon denies to fading Flowrs Her silver sweat, and pearly-purled showrs. 1776Da Costa Conchol. 30 A pearly-coated Shell.
B. as adv. After the manner of, or in respect of, pearl or pearls.
1818Keats Endym. iii. 760 Here is a shell; 'tis pearly blank to me. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 193 The little bell-flowers, pearly blue. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. ii. 361/1 A pearly-lustrous material. 1891Kipling Light that Failed xiii. 249 Maisie lifted up her face, and it was pearly white. ‘No! No! Not blind! I won't have him blind!’ 1952A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 241 H[ymenanthera] crassifolia, yellow, pansy-like flowers, succeeded by pearly-white berries in autumn.
C. n.
a. in pl. Clothes adorned with pearl-buttons, such as are worn by costermongers. Also, the pearl-buttons themselves.
1886–96Marshall Pomes fr. ‘Pink 'Un’, Bleary Bill 60 (Farmer) Oh! why are your pearlies so bright, bleary Bill? 1897Daily News 27 Jan. 7/5 A sharp-looking urchin, wearing a complete suit of coster ‘pearlies’. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 142 He'd..a blue coat and weskit with the artfullest little pearlies you ever see. 1914‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xviii. 156 What time the citizen ashore donned ‘pearlies’ or broad⁓cloth and shut up shop. 1935P. Cohen-Portheim Spirit of London viii. 99 There are still costermongers in their ‘pearlies’ (one of the prettiest dresses to be found anywhere). 1949R. Graves Seven Days in New Crete 123 ‘But you should see my gala suit! It is in rain-grey linen, covered with little pearl-buttons.’..He went off to buy his pearlies. 1957Encycl. Brit. VI. 511/1 (caption) London costermonger family of the Victorian age. These costumes, with their rich embroidery of pearl buttons or ‘pearlies’, are now used rarely, and only on festive occasions.
b. A costermonger or a pearly king (or queen).
1928Daily Express 27 June 13/3 It is given to few men to be popular alike with princes and ‘pearlies’. 1959Manch. Guardian 4 Aug. 4/7 Hampstead Bank Holidays..felt the loss of..the beery men, the pearlies, and the ‘Stout Parties’. 1974Times 20 Aug. 12/2 There will be ‘three Pearlies including the Pearly King of London’. 1977[see sense 3 c above].
Add:[A.] [4.] b. pearly whites, teeth. See sense *C. 2 below. slang.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 86/2 Pearly whites, the teeth. 1980Globe & Mail (Toronto) 24 Oct. 15/5 Coburn is defeated by his pearly-whites and taut features. 1987L. Hodgkinson Smile Therapy vii. 114 Although crooked teeth may make some people nervous of smiling, there is more to looking happy than displaying a perfect row of pearly whites.
[C.] [2.] pl. ellipt. for pearly whites above; teeth. slang.
1914W. L. George Making of Englishman i. iv. 71 Twirl your sunshade, twirl away, tooraloo, and never you mind the words so long as you've the limelight on your pearlies. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 462 My pearlies in their sparkling wisdom are nippling her bubblets. 1973T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow (1975) i. 78 Secretaries..shiver with the winter cold being inhaled through the madhouses's many crevices, their typewriter keys chattery as their pearlies. 1985Sunday Express Mag. 1 Sept. 5/1 Keanan has long marmalade locks, a silver ring in his right ear and a near-perfect set of pearlies.
3. [Perh. ellipt. for pearly whites = ‘frights’ (otherwise unrecorded).] pl. with the. An uncontrollable shaking of the bowing arm sometimes experienced by violinists, etc. before a performance, as a result of nervousness. Mus. slang.
1974Guardian 22 Mar. 14/5 Getting the ‘pearlies’ is a string player's phrase for tremulousness. 1977South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 22 July 16/4 Violin players call the shaking hands that accompany pre-performance nerves ‘the pearlies’ and dread it since they can ruin their bowing technique. 1983Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Nov. 1438/1 Tremor—that terrifying disorder (known to professional musicians as The Pearlies) when the bowing arm seems to have a life of its own, its shaking quite out of the control of the patient's conscious mind. |