| 释义 |
ˈringtail, ˈring-tail
[f. ring n.1]
1. Ornith.
a. The female of the hen-harrier. (Formerly regarded by many as a distinct species.)
1538Elyot Dict., Pygargus..is also a byrde lyke to a hawke, hauynge a whyte tayle: I suppose hym to be that which we call a rynge tayle. 1575Turberv. Falconrie 55 There are two foules, wherof the one is called (Ian le blancke) which I take to be the Harrohen or capped Kyte, and the other (Blanch queue) the ring tayle. 1609Bible (Douay) Deut. xiv. 13 The osprey, the ringtaile, and the vulture. 1661Webster & Rowley Thrac. Wonder v. ii, Besides, what falcon but dares venture upon a ringtail? 1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 72 Of the Ring-tail, the Male whereof is called the Henharrier. 1768Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) I. 194 The ringtail weighs sixteen ounces. 1794Hutchinson Hist. Cumbld. I. 5/2, I have never seen two ringtails attend the same nest, and I..invariably found each nest frequented by the henharrier and ringtail. 1808Montagu in Linnæan Trans. IX. 185 The new feathers..clearly evinced the smallest bird to be a Hen Harrier, and the larger a Ringtail. 1880Newton in Encycl. Brit. XI. 492/1 It was not until after Montagu's observations were published..that the ‘Ringtail’..was generally admitted to be the female of the ‘Hen-Harrier’.
fig.1611Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. iv, Thou Royal Ring⁓tail, fit to fly at nothing But poor mens Poultry.
attrib.1743G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds pl. 107 Ring⁓tail Hawk. 1784Pennant Arct. Zool. (1792) I. 243 Ring⁓tail Falcon.
b. The golden eagle before its third year. Usually ring-tail eagle.
1776Pennant Brit. Zool. Index, Ring-tail, or black eagle. 1813Wilson Amer. Ornith. VII. 14 The Ring-tail Eagle is characterized by all as a generous spirited and docile bird. 1828Fleming Brit. Anim. 53 In the opinion of some, the ringtail is considered as a distinct species; but the facts..demonstrate its connection with the Golden Eagle. 1838Penny Cycl. X. 173/1 Many other authors mention the eagle and ring-tails in such terms as to leave the identity of the bird almost unquestionable.
c. ring-tail pigeon (see quot.).
1865Chambers's Encycl. VII. 534/1 The Ring-tail Pigeon (Columba Caribbea) may be mentioned as a West Indian species, much valued for the..delicacy of its flesh.
2. Zool. = ring-tailed a. 2 and 3. Also absol.
1771Pennant Syn. Quad. 137 Maucauco,..Ring-tail. Tail..marked with numbers of regular rings of black and white. 1852J. West Hist. Tasmania I. 324 The Ringtail opossum (Phalangista or Hepoona Cookii. Desm.) is smaller, less common, and less sought after. Ibid., Dogs will not eat the flesh of the Ringtail even when roasted.
3. Naut. (See quots.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Ring-tail, a small triangular sail, extended on a little mast, which is occasionally erected for that purpose on the top of a ship's stern... Ring-tail is also a name given to a sort of studding-sail, hoisted beyond the after-edge or skirt of those main-sails which are extended by a boom and gaff. 1804Duncan Mar. Chron. Pref. p. xii, The studding-sails, drivers, ring-tails, and all those sails which are set occasionally. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict., Ring-Tail, a small sail shaped like a jib, set occasionally in light winds; it is hoisted on the outer end of the main or spanker gaff. 1873‘Vanderdecken’ Yachts & Yachting 185 A racing cutter will be fitted with four gaff-topsails, viz., a jib-headed or ring-tail topsail that is set without a yard. 1901S. H. King Dog-Watches 59 The Victoria, had a throat and peak mainsail instead of the mutton-leg mainsail and ringtail gaff topsail of the Excelsior. 1934[see Jamie Green].
b. attrib. with ringtail boom, ringtail sail, etc.
1794Rigging & Seamanship 83 Abaft the after leech of the main-sail, in calm weather, is hoisted a ring-tail-sail. Ibid. 162 The Ringtail-boom is a small boom projecting from the stern of some vessels to spread the foot of the ringtail-sail. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast vi, He was going aloft to fit a strap round the main-topmast head, for ringtail halyards. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict. s.v., Extended on a boom called the ringtail boom.
4. (Written ring tail.) A dog's tail which is curled so as to form nearly a complete circle.
1872‘Idstone’ Dog x. 87 The tail should be of a moderate length,..not curved over the back, not carried low, nor curved at the end like what in Bulldogs is called a ‘ring tail’. 1961J. Lanning Great Danes viii. 73 Ring tails are a hereditary fault and were common at one time.
5. U.S. slang. A worthless person, a hobo.
1926Amer. Speech I. 652/2 Ring-tail, a Hobo who is carrying a ‘grouch’. 1931‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 205 He [sc. an unpopular fellow] is also a ring tail. Such hobos are often under suspicion. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 98/1 Ring tail, an ignorant, loud mouthed, vulgar person. 1947Amer. Speech XXII. 214 In the Pacific Theater..the sobriquets applied to the Japanese were particularly hateful, as ringtails, yellow bastards, and a host of unprintables.
6. Austral. slang. (See quots.)
1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 60 Ringtail, a coward. 1943Amer. Speech XVIII. 256 With Americans a ringtail is a grouchy person; with Australians he is a coward.
7. attrib., as ringtail roarer, ringtail snorter, etc., = ring-tailed a. 4.
1832J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! I. xiv. 124, I got tired of making fun of the ringtail roarer. 1859Oregon Argus 10 Dec. 1/1 Here lies James D. Porter, Who lived as he hadn't orter, But as a Methodist exhorter Was a regular ring-tail snorter. 1862J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. 25 My eldes' boy's so took up, wut with the Ringtail Rangers An' settin' in the Jestice-Court for welcomin' o' strangers. |