| 释义 |
▪ I. preen, n. Now Sc. and north. dial.|priːn|
Forms: 1–3 préon, (1 préan), 3 pren, 3–6 prene, 5 preyne, 6–9 prein, 8 prine, 8– preen (prin).
[OE. préon a pin, brooch, fastening = MDu. priem(e, Du. priem a bodkin, dagger, MLG. prên, prêne, prême, prîm, LG. preen, preem a pin, spike, awl, MGH. pfrieme, G. pfriem, pfriemen an awl, WFris. prieme, EFris. prêm-e an awl, etc., Icel. prjónn (found in 13th c. as prop. name) a (knitting-)pin, peg, plug, Norw. prjona, prjöne, Da. preen a bodkin, piercer. Cf. med.L. premula, dim. of *prema. For interchange of m and n cf. plum. Gael. prìne pin is from Lowl. Sc.]
1. A pin; a brooch.
a1000in Thorpe Charters 530 Ic ᵹeann Godan minre yldran dehter..anes bendes..and tweᵹea preonas, and anes wifscrudes ealles. c1000ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker I. 152/37 Fibula, preon, uel oferfeng, uel dalc. a1225Ancr. R. 84 Þe vikelare ablent þene mon & put him preon in eien. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1872 Gol[d] prenes and ringes. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xliii. (Cecile) 533 Þi poweste lik a bose of wynd Þat fillit ware, & with a prene Mocht out be latine. c1420Anturs of Arth. xxix. (Ireland MS.), Hur Kerchefes were curiouse, with mony a proud prene [v. rr. pene, pyne]. a1510Douglas K. Hart i. xvi, For wes thair nocht..That no man micht the poynting of ane prene Repreve. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxii. 37 And we, agane, wald by ane Fraer of Fegges, Baith prenis and nedillis, and sell to landwart Megges. 1717Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood iv, She gae'd as fait as a new preen. 1725― Gentle Sheph. ii. ii, O' this unsonsy pictures aft she makes O' ony ane she hates..Stuk fou o' prins. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Prin, a pin. 1837R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 131 My ingle she keepit as neat as a preen.
b. fig. As type of a thing of small value.
c1470Henry Wallace vii. 910 Off courtlynes thai cownt him nocht a preyne. a1560Rolland Crt. Venus iii. 546 For sic storyis I cuir thame not ane prene. 1728Ramsay Ep. to R. Yarde 53 Thousands a-year's no worth a Prin, When e'er this fashious Guest gets it. 1871C. Gibbon Lack of Gold ii, You got to like books, and he didna care a prin for them.
2. (See quots.)
1864Atkinson Provinc. Names Birds, Preen, Prov. name..for Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa rufa. 1885Swainson Provinc. Names Birds 198 Bar-tailed Godwit. Prine (Essex). From its habit of probing the mud for food.
3. See quot.: ? = preem.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 290/1 Preene,..an Instrument used by the Clothworkers..for their Handle Dressing, or picking of the Wool Flocks,..an half round piece of Wood, with a handle..the streight side being set with Wyers like teeth.
4. attrib. and Comb.: preen-cod, preen-cushion, a pincushion; also transf.; preen-head, pin-head, preen-point, pin-point, both used fig. as the type of anything very small, or of small value; preensworth, the value of a preen or pin.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxii. 39 Syne said and swoir..That he suld nocht twich hir *prenecod. 1578Inv. R. Wardrobes (1815) 239 Ane preincoid of blew and yallow velvot. 1822Galt Provost v, The Nabob..made [them] presents of new gowns and prin-cods.
1888A. G. Murdoch Sc. Readings Ser. ii. 65 A sawdust *preen-cushion.
1825Jamieson s.v., ‘No worth a *prein-head’. 1897E. W. Hamilton Outlaws xviii. 207, I canna mind ae single Armstrong..worth a prein-head.
1886A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends vi. (1887) 42 No' carin' a *preen-point for the sorrow they left ahint them.
1887J. Service Dr. Duguid i. iii. 20 Lord, there's no a *preensworth but Thou kens.
▪ II. preen, v.1 Now Sc. and north. dial.|priːn|
Forms: 3 preonen, 4–6 prene, (7– prin), 8– preen.
[f. prec. n.: cf. Du. priemen to stab, pierce, MLG. prünen, prunen, LG. prünen, prienen, EFris. prînen (Doornk.-Koolman) to stitch together roughly, G. pfriemen to bore with an awl, Icel. prjóna to knit.]
†1. trans. To sew; to stitch up. Obs.
c1250Death 68 in O.E. Misc. 172 Me nimeð þe licome & preoneð in a clut. 1513Douglas æneis iii. vii. 26 Brusit clathis, and riche wedis, Figurit and prynnit al with goldin thredis. Ibid. iv. v. 163 Ane purpour claith of Tyre..Fetisly stekit with prynnit goldin thredis.
†2. To pierce; to transfix. Obs.
c1320R. Brunne Medit. 859 Þurgh hys herte he prened hym with mode. 13..Min. Poems fr. Vernon MS. 688 Loke al ȝor loue on him beo leyd, For vs on Rode was prikket & prenet. 1388Wyclif 1 Sam. xviii. 11 Forsothe Dauid harpide with his hond,..and Saul helde a spere, and caste it, and gesside that he myȝte prene [Vulg. configere] Dauid with the wal [gloss that is, perse with the spere, so that it schulde passe til to the wal]. c1460Play Sacrament 467 Wt yis same dagger that ys so styf & strong In y⊇ myddys of thys prynt I thynke for to prene..[Stage direct. here shalle y⊇ iiij Jewys pryk yer daggeris in iiij quarters].
3. To fasten with a pin; to pin.
1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxiii. 22 My Coller, of trew Nichtbour lufe it was, Weill prenit on with Kyndnes and solas. 1675in Hunter Biggar & Ho. Fleming ix. (1862) 96 For a dosen of great prinies to prin ye mortcloath and horscloath. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. v. ii, Prin up your aprons baith, and come away. 1832–53Whistle-Binkie Ser. ii. 75 He took the dishclout frae the bink, And preen't it til her cockernony! 1888Doyle Capt. Polestar 25, I canna say I preen my faith in sea-bogles and the like.
▪ III. preen, v.2|priːn|
Forms: 5 proyne, prayne, preyne, prene, 6 Sc. prein, 7 prain, 8 prine, 8– prin, 7– preen.
[app. in origin a variant of prune v.1 (ME. proyne, etc.), assimilated to preen v.1 (early ME. preonen), in allusion to the boring or pricking action of a bird's beak when it preens its plumage.]
1. trans. Of a bird (or duck-billed platypus): To trim (the feathers or fur) with the beak.
1486Bk. St. Albans A vj, Youre hawke proynith and not pikith and she prenyth not bot whan she begynnyth at hir leggys, and fetcheth moystour like oyle at hir taill. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 989 To pick or prain, as a bird doth herself. 1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 139 When..ruffled or discomposed, the Bird..can easily preen them. 1774G. White Selborne 28 Sept., The feathers of these birds must be well preened to resist so much wet. 1860G. Bennett Gatherings Nat. Australasia vi. 135 Besides combing their fur to clean it when wet, I have seen them preen it with their beak (if the term may be allowed) as a duck would clean its feathers. 1884Leeds Mercury Weekly Supp. 15 Nov. 8/2 A cormorant..sat watching us and preening its feathers.
2. refl.
a. Of a person: To trim or dress oneself up; to smooth and adorn oneself.
c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 768 He kembeth hym he preyneth [v. rr. prayneth, proynyth] hym and pyketh. 1586Dunbar's Tua Mariit Wemen 374 (Maitland MS.), I wald me prein plesandlie in precious wedis. 1790D. Morison Poems 81 Ne'er price a weardless, wanton elf, That nought but pricks and prins herself. 1883Mrs. Armytage in Fortn. Rev. 1 Sept. 344 Egyptian beauties..sleeked and preened themselves before their brightly burnished brazen mirrors.
b. fig. To pride or please oneself.
1880Shorthouse J. Inglesant Pref. 8 They and their followers preen and plume themselves..on their aristocratic standpoint. 1907G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island p. liv, Not so pitiable as the virtuous indignation with which Judge Lynch, himself provable by his own judgment to be a prevaricator, hypocrite, tyrant and coward of the first water, preened himself at its expense. 1926W. & E. Muir tr. Feuchtwanger's Jew Süss i. 7 The Catholics were preening themselves on the probable extinction of the Protestant line in Swabia. 1943A. Christie Moving Finger xi. 131 These schools..seem to take a delight in turning out girls who preen themselves on looking like nothing on earth. They call it being sweet and unsophisticated. 1948O. Walker Kaffirs are Lively xi. 164 South Africa..sometimes preens itself on its lack of lynch-law. 1972‘J. Herriot’ It shouldn't happen to Vet i. 14 He had put one over on the young clever-pants vet and nobody could blame him for preening himself a little.
3. To trim (trees). dial.
1847–78Halliwell, Preen, to prime, or trim up trees.
Hence preened ppl. a., ˈpreening vbl. n.
1599Jas. I βασιλ. Δωρον (1603) 111 They should not..by their painted, preened fashion, serue for baites to filthie lechery. Ibid. 112 Eschewe to be effœminate in your cloathes, in perfuming, preening, or such like. 1890E. Coues Handbk. Field & Gen. Ornith. ii. iii. 129 Birds press out a drop of oil with the beak and dress the feathers with it, in the well-known operation called ‘preening’. 1953N. Tinbergen Herring Gull's World iv. 41 Preening is a most vital occupation. 1975J. A. G. Barnes Titmice Brit. Isles vii. 122 Preening must be considered almost as essential an activity as feeding. |