| 释义 |
▪ I. pedestal, n.|ˈpɛdɪstəl|
Forms: α. 6– pedestal (also 6 -alle, -ale, pettestale, 6–7 pedestall, 7 -estell, -istal). β. 6–8 peidestal(l, 7 piedstal(l, -stoole, piedistal.
[ad. F. piédestal (1547 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. It. piedestallo, † piedistallo, i.e. pie di stallo foot of a stall, ‘the base of any frame or engine’ (Florio 1611), f. piè, piede foot + stallo stall, hovel, shed, stable. In Eng. piéd- became ped-, conformed to L. ped-em foot.]
1. a. The base supporting a column or pillar in construction; the base on which an obelisk, statue, vase, or the like is erected; also, each of the two supports of a knee-hole writing-table, usually containing drawers.
α1563Shute Archit. C ij b, If ye will set Stylobata, or Pedestal, vnder your pillor,..you shall make a foure square,..one ende shalbe the height of the square or body of the Pedestall. Ibid., Thus endeth the Pedestale or Stylobata. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xi. (Arb.) 110 The Piller..is considered with two accessarie parts, a pedestall or base, and a chapter or head; the body is the shaft. 1599Dallam Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 63 Tow rankes of marble pillors; the pettestales of them ar made of brass. 1663Gerbier Counsel 30 It seldom happens that a Pedestal is put to the Tuscan Order. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1707) 20 This serv'd for a Pedestal to a Throne erected upon it. 1718Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Bristol 10 Apr., An obelisk..is placed..upon a pedestal of square free-stone, full of figures in bas-relief on two sides. 1845Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 4), Pedestal or Footstall, a substructure frequently placed under columns in Classical architecture. 1866Carlyle in Mrs. C's Lett. III. 254, I have discovered in drawers of pedestal these mournful letters. 1879Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 87 The singular ornamentation of the pedestal or basement of the doorways.
β1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Piedestal d'vne colomne, the foote of a piller, a piedestall. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1277 Little statues upon great bases and large piedstals. 1792Resid. in France (1797) I. 348 His bust erected on the piedestal.
b. Used fig. in phr. to put (or place, etc.) on a pedestal, to regard as highly admirable or important; to accord an important place to; to exalt or magnify.
1859[see seat v. 1 a fig.]. 1882R. L. Stevenson Familiar Stud. Men & Bks. 158 This is to put friendship on a pedestal indeed. 1916G. B. Shaw Pygmalion 205 She wishes she could get him alone..and just drag him off his pedestal and see him making love like any common man. 1922Joyce Ulysses 638 They discovered..that their idol had feet of clay, after placing him upon a pedestal. 1930A. Roosevelt in H. Powell Last Paradise p. xiii, In the United States we are so used to work that we can't conceive of life without it. We have placed work on a pedestal. It is our God. 1957D. Robins Noble One xvi. 152 He had unconsciously put her on a pedestal. 1968Listener 3 Oct. 440/3 When somebody becomes prime minister they're immediately put on a pedestal... Well, Ramsay fell off his pedestal. 1975Ibid. 18 Dec. 815/1 The doctor is on a pedestal? Yes, unapproachable, because his expertise sets him apart.
2. a. A base, support, foundation (material or immaterial).
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 1027 Heav'n's chastest Spouse, supporter of this All, This glorious Building's goodly Pedestall. 1638Drummond of Hawthornden Irene Wks. (1711) 165 Obedience being the strongest pedestal of concord, and concord the principal pillar of state. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. Disc. iv. 120 Self-denial and Mortification, which are the Pedestal of the Crosse. 1742Young Nt. Th. viii. 492 Fain would he make the world his pedestal. 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Uses Wks. (Bohn) I. 276 The true artist has the planet for his pedestal; the adventurer..has nothing broader than his own shoes.
b. Humorously applied to the foot or leg.
1812Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary I. 13, I wish my fairer countrywomen would..adopt the exterior neatness, even if nature should not..be as gracious in moulding the shape of the pedestal. 1827Mirror II. 387/1 My now knock-knee pedestals bend to the bandy.
3. In technical uses:
†a. On a railway, the ‘chair’ used to support the rails, or a base to support the chair (obs.);
b. an axle-guard or horn-plate;
c. the standard or each of the standards or supports of various machines or pieces of mechanism, e.g. the upright standard of a boring-machine or similar tool, that of a pillow-block which holds the brasses in which the shaft turns, etc.
1774M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. iv. 43 Set the Brass Pedestal on a firm Support... Then hang the Quadrant on the Pillar, and by the Spirit-level and Screws in the Feet, the Pillar may be set perpendicular. 1816Specif. of Losh & Stephenson's Patent No. 4067. 2 The joinings of the rails with the pedestals or props which support them. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 653 A chair is..placed on a pedestal at every three or four feet distance,..according to the length of the cast iron rails. 1835Mech. Mag. XXIII. 228 The pedestal for the joint..to be fastened to the sleeper with cotter bolts. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. 202/1 Axle-guard, one of the pedestals in which the boxes of an axle play vertically as the springs yield and recoil. 1896Heal & Son Catal.: Bedsteads, etc. 170 Wash⁓stand.., Chamber Pedestal, Towel Horse. 1959W. S. Sharps Dict. Cinematogr. 116 Pedestal, a simple vertical support for a film projector. 1960O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV 95 Pedestal, a simple, high Dolly, used in T.V. 1961G. Millerson Technique Television Production iii. 23 A one-man camera mounting, the pedestal has high manoeuvrability. Ibid. 24 The pedestal column is telescopic. 1971Nature 9 July 98/1 The fines were mounted on the electron microscope pedestal with a drop of absolute methanol. 1975J. Rathbone Kill Cure i. iv. 32 The cracked W.C. pedestal did not bear looking into.
d. Television. The level of the video signal voltage during line blanking; also, this part of the signal.
1937Electronics June 15/2 From the shading panel the signal goes to a control amplifier where the pedestal level is set. This pedestal is a voltage level corresponding to black, or slightly ‘blacker than black’, on which the synchronizing impulses are placed and which exists throughout the return trace of the cathode beam. 1951R. B. Dome Television Princ. ix. 214 The width of the horizontal synchronizing pulse is approximately half the width of its pedestal. 1956M. Slurzberg et al. Essent. Television ii. 24 The blanking signal is often referred to as a pedestal on which the synchronizing pulses are mounted. 1972F. H. Belt How to interpret T.V. Waveforms 101 Video looks okay at first glance, although actually it's compressed a bit at the black end (up near where the sync pedestals should be). Also, blanking (the sync pedestal) appears widened.
4. attrib. and Comb., as pedestal base, pedestal cupboard, pedestal-dance, pedestal-dancer, pedestal dancing, pedestal desk, pedestal trunk; pedestal-box, a journal-box (Cent. Dict. 1890); pedestal-coil, -coiler, an upright coil of steam pipe for use as a radiator (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); pedestal-cover, the cap of a pillow-block; pedestal mat, a mat which fits around the base of a lavatory pedestal; pedestal-rail (Naut.), see quot.; pedestal table, one with a massive central support or foot; also used of other types of table; also pedestal writing table; pedestal vase, a vase with a pedestal base; pedestal (wash) basin, a wash basin with a single columnar support.
1948A. Lane Greek Pott. ii. 9 Wide and shallow with *pedestal bases. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. B21/9 (Advt.), Pedestal base dining tables.
1967J. Morrison in Coast to Coast 1965–66 140 There was no *pedestal basin and no tap.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1704/2 (figure of Pillow-Block), c. *pedestal-cover.
1896Heal & Son Catal.: Bedsteads, etc. 194 *Pedestal Cupboard. 1959G. Savage Antique Collector's Handbk. 122 Pedestal cupboards, surmounted by urns, appear quite frequently.
1895Daily News 23 Jan. 6/7 The fancy trick and burlesque bicycle act and *pedestal dance.
Ibid., On the authorised printed programme..the Dunedin Troupe were duly put down for two performances as bicyclists, and Mdlle. Donegan..as a *pedestal dancer.
1906Daily Chron. 12 Mar. 7/1 Mrs. Lannon said *pedestal dancing was not a speciality, but they had introduced it.
1952J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 353 Small *pedestal desks were introduced early in the 18th century. 1957V. Nabokov Pnin iii. 69 It [sc. a room] had come with two ignoble chairs..and a humble pedestal desk of indeterminable wood. 1970Country Life 1 Oct. (Suppl.) 48B/1 A very fine quality Hepplewhite mahogany Pedestal Desk with bow front and dummy drawers.
1962Guardian 5 Dec. 6/3 Matching bathroom sets..bath mat, *pedestal mat, lavatory seat cover. 1972Ibid. 23 Feb. 18/5 Matching bathmats..pedestal mats, and loo seat covers.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 136 *Pedestal-rail, a rail about 2 inches thick, that is wrought over the foot-space rail, and in which there is a groove to steady the heels of the balusters of the galleries.
1939Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1032 Bedside *pedestal table..With half door..or full door. Ibid., Kidney Shape Pedestal Table, fitted with six drawers. 1952J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 355 Pedestal table, a term sometimes used for round, oval, square, or rectangular tables that are supported by a single pillar or column which rests upon a stabilising base. 1966M. M. Pegler Dict. Interior Design (1967) 329 The pedestal table is also a popular modern design with the table surface resting on a thin support which flares outward as it reaches the floor. 1975Habitat Catal. 35 Pedestal table. Spun aluminium base..melamine laminate top.
1856Olmsted Slave States 383 Cypresses, with great *pedestal trunks, and protuberant roots.
1960K. M. Kenyon Archaeol. in Holy Land vii. 171 Neither *pedestal vases..nor flaring carinated bowls..are found.
1967Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 62 *Pedestal wash basin, a wash basin supported from the floor by a column-shaped base.
1883Heal & Son Catal.: Bedsteads, etc. 193 *Pedestal Writing Table,..Leather Top.
▪ II. ˈpedestal, v.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To set or support upon a pedestal; to furnish with a pedestal. lit. and fig.
1648Earl of Westmoreland Otia Sacra (1879) 77 All the fabrick Is pedestall'd upon those precious piles. 1715M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 185 The Theater is Grounded, Pedestal'd and Carpetted over. 1802H. Martin Helen of Glenross II. 255 There is nothing I detest more than being pedestaled for a genius. 1889Pall Mall G. 2 Apr. 3/3 He seems to us to miss the significance of the true Imperialism which pedestals itself on Nationalism.
2. To form a pedestal for, to support as a pedestal.
1890Hosmer Anglo-Sax. Freedom 121 Every convenient stump pedestalled its orator. |