| 释义 |
plum-tree|ˈplʌmtriː|
The tree which bears plums; = plum n. 2. Also fig., the source of the spoils of political office; esp. in phr. to shake the plum tree (U.S.). Also attrib.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 310 Nim plum treowes leaf, wyl on wine, & swile mid þone muþ. c1325Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 162 Asch, brom, plum-tre. c1350Nominale Gall.-Angl. 649 (E.E.T.S.) Plumtre, bolastre and hookus [Fr. Pruner, creker, et chene]. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 16 Piries and Plomtres weore passchet to þe grounde. 1483Cath. Angl. 284/1 A Plowmbe tre garthe, prunetum. 1552Huloet, Plumbe tree, prunus, spinus; prunetum, spinetum, the place wher plumme trees growe. 1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 57 The Violet and Premorden Plum-trees are very great bearing trees. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 4 An ever-green, with leaves resembling those of a pear or plumb-tree. 1905D. G. Phillips Plum Tree ii. 24, I mentally called the roll—wealth, respectability, honor, all on their knees before Dominick, each with his eye upon the branch of the plum tree that bore the kind of fruit he fancied. 1906U. Sinclair Jungle xxvii. 340 Those golden hours when he, too, had a place beneath the shadow of the plum tree. 1922Joyce Ulysses 668 The name on the label is Plumtree. A plumtree in a meatpot, registered trade mark. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 23 May 14/1 The thought uppermost in everybody's mind at the gathering at which James was the guest of honor was: When will you shake the plum tree? 1952G. Stimpson Bk. about Amer. Politics 258 While he [sc. Matthew Stanley Quay] was State treasurer (1885–1887) he placed large sums of State money in the People's Bank of Philadelphia and used it to buy stocks on margin. On one occasion Quay and his associates piled up orders for the stock of the Metropolitan Railroad of New York until only about $10,000 was left in the bank. John S. Hopkins, the cashier, became frightened and protested to the political boss. Quay sent the cashier the message: ‘Buy and carry a thousand Met for me and I will shake the plum tree.’ 1959Chambers's Encycl. X. 804/1 Pruning of standard plum trees simply means cutting out branches which intercross or thinning out overcrowded branches. |