| 释义 |
▪ I. prat, n.1 and a. Now only Sc.|præt|
Forms: 1 prætt, 1–3 præt, 3 (9 Sc.) pret, 5 (6 Sc.) pratte, 6–9 Sc. pratt, 7– Sc. prat.
[OE. prætt guile, a trick: cf. MDu. parte, Du. part crafty trick, prank; also MDu., Flem. perte, Du., EFris., LG. pret, ON. prettr, Norw. pretta a roguish trick, etc. Ulterior origin obscure. See also pretty a.
It is remarkable that, with the exception of the instances in Layamon (which seem to be attrib. or in comb., but may be adj.), the word does not appear between OE. times and 1478.]
A. n. A trick; a piece of trickery or fraud; a prank, a frolic.
c1000ælfric Gram. xliii. (Z.) 257 Astu, præt. c1000Ags. Gloss. in Haupt's Zeitschrift IX. 424 [Contra mille nocendi artes], onᵹean þusendfealde deriᵹende prattas. a1023Wulfstan Hom. xlvii. (Napier) 245 Woᵹe domas and prættas. c1205Lay. 81 Elene..þa Paris Alixandre mid pret wrenche bi-won. Ibid. 5302 [Hi] ðohten bi-pechen Belin mid heore præt wrenchen. 1478Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 234 Iff any suche pratte scholde be laboryd, it is I hope in bettr case. 1513Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 81 Prattis ar reput policy and perellus paukis. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 338 marg., Puniset for the perte and pernicious pratt thay playd to thair Bischop. 1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 18 When first this prat [of burying in Kirks] came in practise. 1785Forbes Dominie Depos'd 33 Your prats [ed. 1780 pranks], she says, are now found out. 1812Chalmers in Hanna Life (1849) I. xi. 293 Of all the pratts I ever played, none was ever carried on..more gracefully. 1812Scotsman 29 (Jam.) The bits o' prets, by quhilk they inveigle the public to buy their beuks.
B. adj. Cunning, astute.
a1200De Gestis Herwardi in Michel Chron. Anglo-Norm. II. 51 Lefwinus Prat [id est] Astutus. c1200Ormin 6652 Niss he nohht hinnderrȝæp ne pratt To follȝhenn ille wiless.
▪ II. prat, n.2
Also pratt.
[Origin unknown.]
1. a. In pl. or (usu.) sing. The buttocks; the backside, rump. slang (orig. Criminals').
1567Harman Caveat (1869) 82 Prat, a buttocke. 1641Brome Jov. Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 391 First set me down here on both my Prats. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Pratts, Buttocks. 1846[see nut n.1 7 a]. 1895H. Watson in Chap Bk. III. 484 To drive myself square across the way, and despatch the horses back upon their prats, setting the coachman and the post-boys yelling in a terrified hubbub. 1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 66 Pratt,..the human rear. 1952R. Stout Prisoner's Base i. 3, I have had to spend most of my time recently sitting on my prat. 1959E. Borneman Tomorrow is Now ix. 93 You gimme a pain in the royal pratt. 1972D. Delman Sudden Death iii. 65 I'm a shmo about tennis, so if I fall on my prat a time or two you have to bear with me.
b. A hip-pocket. U.S. Criminals' slang.
1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 66 Pratt.., a hip pocket. 1927[see prat-digging vbl. n.] 1936Detective Fiction Weekly 12 Sept. 93/1 In spite of the fact that a pocketbook may be removed most easily from a hip pocket known as a right or left ‘pratt’, the majority of men carry their money there.
2. A person of no account; a dolt, fool, ‘jerk’. slang.
1968M. Bragg Without City Wall xii. 130 He had been looking for the exact word to describe David and now he found it: prat. 1973J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 32 Harris was a bit of a pompous prat. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 204 Want to get an eyeful, do you, dirty-minded prat that you are. 1980J. Wainwright Eye of Beholder 18 The pompous prat. The I-know-people-in-high-places nut.
3. attrib. and Comb., as prat-faced adj.; (in sense 1 b) prat digger, a pick-pocket; so prat-digging vbl. n.; prat frisk, the theft of a wallet from a hip-pocket; prat-kick, a hip-pocket; prat leather, a wallet kept in the hip-pocket; prat poke, a wallet stolen from the hip-pocket.
1935Amer. Speech X. 19/2 *Prat-digger, a pickpocket, one who exploits the prat kick. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 69 Others specialize in hip pocket work and are called prat diggers.
1908J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 19 *Pratt digging, stealing from the hip pocket. 1916G. A. England Pod, Bender & Co. 291 It's a fact we've always been above such lays as pratt-digging. 1927Writer's Monthly Nov. 390/1 The ‘pratt’..is a trousers pocket. ‘Pratt-digging’ is stealing the ‘pratt-leather’ from the hip.
1976U. Holden String Horses i. 17 They liked to kiss each other lightly.., push each other with taunts. ‘You *prat-faced les. Get off.’
1924*Prat frisk [see prat poke].
1896I. K. Friedman Lucky Number 154, ‘I dipped it from yer *prat-kick.’.. ‘I means I took her from yer back pocket,’ answered the rogue blandly. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 125 The hip pockets are prat kicks.
1908J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 19 *Pratt leather, a pocketbook in the hip pocket. 1927Prat leather [see prat-digging vbl. n.].
1924G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 414 *Pratt poke, purse kept in hip pocket. Pratt frisk—stealing such a purse, reefing a britch. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 115 When a wallet is taken from the hip pocket, it is known as a prat poke.
▪ III. prat, v.
Also Sc. pret.
[app. f. prat n.1, but cf. pract v.]
1. a. intr. To practise tricks. Hence pratting vbl. n. trickery, and ppl. a. tricky, juggling. Sc.
1570Satir. Poems Reform. xxii. 31 Quhais strenth and force consistis in pratting word, With Serpentis sting, under simplicitie. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 239 The Bischoppes heirat offended, said, ‘What pratting is this? Lett his accusatioun be redd’. [Perhaps this is prating.]
b. To lark about; to trifle, romp. Freq. const. with.
1728A. Ramsay Poems (1953) II. 89 Some Beaus may snarl if we should prat. a1835J. Affleck Posthumous Poetical Wks. (1836) 60, I never pretit onie where At midday, night or morn. 1851A. Maclagan Sk. from Nature 153 As for her sons, their foes will find They're no to prat wi'! 1897C. R. Dunning Folk-Lore 4 Thae brownies warna to prat wi'! They played gey pliskies whiles, an' did muckle mischeef.
2. To potter about; to fool around, to act in a silly or annoying manner. slang.
1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1231/2 Prat about, to potter, mess about. 1973H. Miller Open City xvii. 187 Sit down and stop pratting about.
3. a. intr. To simulate coyness. b. trans. To feign rejection of (someone). U.S. Blacks.
1970C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 93 Prat, to play coy. 1972‘I. Slim’ in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 389 Pimping ain't no game of love, so prat 'em and keep your swipe outta 'em. |