| 释义 |
plumber|ˈplʌmə(r)|
Forms: 4 plomber, 4–8 plummer, 5 plomere, plommer, plumbar, 5–6 plomer, 5–7 plumer, 6 plommar, Sc. plummair, 5– plumber.
[a. OF. plummier (1266), plommier, mod.F. plombier:— L. plumbārius a plumber, f. plumbum lead.]
1. a. An artisan who works in lead, zinc, and tin, fitting in, soldering, and repairing the water and gas pipes, cisterns, boilers, and other work executed in these metals in the construction of a dwelling-house or other building. Originally applied to a man who dealt and worked in lead. In mod. use, a workman who installs and repairs piping and fittings to do with water supply, sanitation, and drainage.
1385–6[see b]. 1399Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 129 In salario Willelmi Bettys, plummer, operanti super corpus ecclesiæ. c1440Promp. Parv. 406/1 Plumber, or plomere, plumbarius. 1477Paston Lett. III. 212 Vyncent the plomer is a nothir that chal bere the dawnger. 1548Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI, c. 15 §4 Any..Brick-maker, Tile maker, Plummer or Labourer. 1584Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 17 Item given to the plumer for mendinge the leades, xiij s. iiij d. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. i, And, early in the morning, will I send To all the plumbers, and the pewterers, And buy their tin, and lead vp. 1663Gerbier Counsel 47 Sauder, wherewith an unconscionable Plummer can ingrosse his Bill. 1706Phillips, Plummer, one that deals, or works in Lead. 1847Smeaton Builder's Man. 130 Within the last four years, zinc has been extensively employed instead of lead, and the plumber has undertaken the execution of such works. 1887Spectator 29 Oct. 1445 All the tradesmen employed, down even to the plumber.
b. attrib. and Comb., as plumber-house, plumber-work; plumber's force-pump, plumber's furnace (see quots.).
1385–6Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 391 Pro punctura x rod' et dimid. de Wrigthous et le Plomberhous. 1844Stephens Bk. Farm I. 195 Of the specifications of plumber-work..done after the carpentry. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Plumber's force-pump, a pump used by plumbers for testing pipe or withdrawing obstacles from a gorged pipe. 1884Ibid. Suppl. Plumbers' furnace, a portable soldering furnace.
2. transf.
a. Services' slang. An armourer or engineering officer.
b. slang. During the administration of United States President Richard M. Nixon (1969–74), a member of a White House special unit for investigating leaks of government secrets, which came to public notice after it was discovered that they had engaged in illegal practices, including the installation of concealed microphones; also transf.
a.1941D. Masters So Few xix. 224 The plumbers—the name by which the armourers are generally known in the service. 1943C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 48 Plumber, the Engineering Officer. 1946G. Hackforth-Jones Sixteen Bells i. vii. 106 To the average ‘Plumber’ the word Engine is synonomous [sic] with steam. 1962Flight 11 Nov. 605/2, I am not an engineer (or ‘plumber’, as the Royal Air Force equivalent is unofficially called). 1970Navy News Feb. 2/1 It would be of great help in this project if, among your readers, there were a few ex-Keyham ‘plumbers’ who would be prepared to turn out their photographs of those times for us to borrow.
b.1972Time 28 Aug. 24/2 The intelligence squad grew out of a team of so-called ‘plumbers’, originally recruited by the Administration to investigate leaks to the media. 1973Times 15 May 7/1 President Nixon sent a personal letter to Mr J. Edgar Hoover, then Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in June, 1971, telling him that Mr Egil Krogh had been put in charge of a special White House task force on national security and asking for FBI cooperation with it. The group later became known as ‘the plumbers’ because it tried to plug leaks of information. 1974Times 9 Jan. 5/6 The investigating magistrate in the case of Le Canard Enchaîné questioned for two hours today a counter-espionage agent who has been allegedly identified as one of the ‘plumbers’ in the attempted bugging of the satirical weekly magazine. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 6 July 3a 1 Ehrlichman is now appealing a five-year sentence following his conviction for obstruction of justice for his part in the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist by the now-infamous ‘plumbers’. 1977Time 24 Jan. 52/1 He found a band of ‘plumbers’ busily installing listening devices.
Hence ˈplumbership, the office of plumber.
1455Rolls of Parlt. V. 316/2 Th' office of Plummership of the Castels of Carnarvan, Beaumares and Hardlagh. |