| 释义 |
perai, piraya|piˈrai, piːˈraɪ, pɪˈrɑːjə|
Also 8–9 peri, 9 pirai. Also piranha.
[ad. Tupi piˈraya, in Brazilian Tupi piˈranya, name of the fish, lit. ‘scissors’.]
A voracious fresh-water fish, Serrasalmo piraya, of the Orinoco and other rivers of tropical America, having a serrated belly and sharp lancet-shaped teeth.
[1648Marcgrave Brasil. 164 Piraya et Piranha.] 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Piraya,..the name of a fish caught in the American rivers. 1769E. Bancroft Nat. Hist. Guiana 189 The fish called a peri by the Indians and white inhabitants, is about 18 inches in length. 1826Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 75/2 The quivers were close by them, with the jaw-bone of the fish pirai tied by a string to their brim. 1862Wood Nat. Hist. III. 329 The peraya, or pirai has been removed from the Salmonidae and placed in another family. 1879― Waterton's Wand. Index, Perai..sometimes called the Blood-fish of the Orinoco, can make fatal attacks on human beings, its numbers compensating for its small size. 1883C. F. Holder in Harper's Mag. Dec. 107/2 In the Orinoco is found the perai, whose nest..hangs pendent from some..branch, drifting in the tide. |