| 释义 |
▪ I. prowl, v.|praʊl|
Forms: α. 4–6 prolle, (5 pralle), 6–8 proll, prole, 7 prool(e. β. 6–7 proule, prowle, 7–8 proul, 7– prowl.
[ME. proll-en, origin unknown: there is app. no related word outside English. The change to proul, prowl, was at first merely one of spelling (cf. bowl n.1), but has since c 1750 perverted the pronunciation from (proːl, proʊl) to |praʊl|.]
1. a. intr. Originally, To go or move about, esp. in search of or looking for something; hence, to go, rove, roam, or wander about, in search of what can be found, esp. of plunder or prey, or with predatory intent. Orig. chiefly of persons; in mod. use (cf. prowling ppl. a., quot. 1667), characteristically of wild beasts, or persons acting like them.
αc1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 859 Though ye prolle ay ye shul it neuere fynde Ye been as boold as is Bayard the blynde That blondreth forth. c1440Promp. Parv. 415/1 Prollyn, as ratchys, scrutor. 1530Palsgr. 667/2, I prolle, I go here and there to seke a thyng, je tracasse... The felowe prolleth aboute, but it cometh nat to effecte. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 160 [Wolves] Priuely prolling two and froe. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 655 Some do prole after Wasps, and kill them. 1687Dryden Hind & P. iii. 413 You..range around the realm without controll Among my sons, for Proselytes to prole. 1735Somerville Chase i. 309 [Robbers] Then proling far and near, whate'er they seize Becomes their Prey.
β1538[see prowling vbl. n. β]. 1563B. Googe Eglogs viii. (Arb.) 68 Whose gredy Pawes, do neuer ceas, in synfull fluds to prowle [rime soule]. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 802 The nightly Wolf, that round th' Enclosure proul'd To leap the Fence; now plots not on the Fold. 1778F. Burney Diary Aug., I then prowled about to choose some book. 1791Ibid. 1 Aug., We determined..to prowl to the churchyard, and read the tombstone inscriptions. c1850Neale Hymn, ‘Christian, dost thou see them’ i, How the troops of Midian Prowl and prowl around. 1866Alger Solit. Nat. & Man i. 20 The leopard prowls through the jungle alone. 1888Besant Inner House v, We have prowled about the old building.
†b. To search, seek for something (without moving about). Obs. rare.
c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 280 Youre hed ne bak ye claw, a fleigh as þaughe ye sought, ne youre heere ye stryke, ne pyke, to pralle for a flesche mought. 1687New Atlantis iii. 520 Thoughtful and dull..Stood Bavius, proling for his barren Muse.
†c. fig. To seek for gain or advantage in a mean, grasping, or underhand way; to ‘cadge’. Obs.
α1530[see prowling vbl. n. α]. 1550Crowley Waie to Wealth Wks. (1872) 145 Purchaisinge and prollynge for benefices. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 261/1 An other pretie practise of the pope to proll for monie, was this. 1669Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 272 A Corporation of your dignity dos not proll for advantage upon gentlemen your neighbours.
β1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. N ij, This legate..went banketynge and prowlynge from bishope to bishope. 1603H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 129 It is not equall..for a man to liue prowling and shifting by the labours of other men.
†2.
a. trans. To obtain (something) by stealth, cheating, or petty theft; to get in a clandestine way; to pilfer, to filch. Obs.
1530Proper Dialogue in Rede me, etc. (Arb.) 137 What soeuer we get with sweate and labour That prolle they awaye with their prayour. 1592Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlvii. (1612) 220 For from my fault could not, as chanst, the Somner prole a fee. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 132 If we found any breach in any wall of a house, we would prie what we could proule from thence. a1677Barrow Pope's Suprem. Wks. 1687 I. 183 By how many tricks did he proll money from all parts of Christendom?
b. intr. To plunder, steal, pilfer. Obs.
1571Campion Hist. Irel. ii. v. (1633) 84 Surfeited with flesh and acquauitae all the Lent long, prolled and pilled insatiably without neede. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 143 The champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day. 1658W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. ii. 4 That he, who hath no hope of another world, be made to shark and prole to get some of this.
c. trans. To plunder, rob (a person). Obs.
1603Florio Montaigne 503, I overwhelme and contemne it then in great, by retayle it spoyles and proules me. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. I. 111 Were it not for prolling or molesting the People, his Majesty would give Mr. Bayes the Patent for it.
3. To traverse (a place or region) esp. on the look out for prey; to traverse stealthily. † In quot. 1649, to steal in through (obs.).
a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. Poems (Grosart) II. 64 He proules each place, still in new colours deckt, Sucking one's ill, another to infect. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V cclxxv, The invading Brine Prolls everie Seame. 1750Gray Long Story 45 Who prowl'd the country far and near. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xx. 213 He prowled the streets in disguise.
b. Criminals' slang (in U.S.). To examine, search, or inspect (a place or person), esp. before committing a robbery; to ‘case’; to rob.
1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 67 Prowl, noun... An expeditionary investigation; a survey in transit; a search of the person or of a place in the sense of ‘frisk’; a burglary; a sneak; a saunter. Also used as a verb in the same senses. 1926J. Black You can't Win xi. 136 I'd rather ‘prowl’ one of them than any business man. Ibid. xx. 318 He magnanimously suggested that I ‘prowl the joint’ he lived in. 1938in Amer. Speech XIII. 158/1 Store is prowled. 1943R. Chandler Lady in Lake xii. 71, I went back to the kitchen and prowled the open shelves above and behind the sink. 1977‘M. Innes’ Honeybath's Haven xv. 137 Some sort of sneak-thief had conceivably been prowling the dead man's property.
▪ II. prowl, n.|praʊl|
[f. prec. vb.]
a. An act or the action of prowling; roaming or roving about, esp. in search of plunder or prey. on or upon the prowl, prowling about; now freq. in search of an amorous partner.
1803Sporting Mag. XXII. 54 A poor miserable thief had been all night upon the prowl. 1836W. Irving Astoria II. xxviii. 118 The Crow Indians..are apt to be continually on the prowl about the skirts of the mountains. 1876‘Annie Thomas’ Blotted out iii. 31 Let us clear off this business as soon as we can, and then go out for a prowl. 189519th Cent. Sept. 482 Through all the intricacies of their hunting prowl we followed them. 1922Joyce Ulysses 600 A figure of middle height on the prowl, evidently, under the arches saluted again, calling: Night! 1946Sun (Baltimore) 3 July 4/5 That big cat..is reputedly on the prowl again. 1959W. Brown Cry Kill iii. 31 Not a beauty like Lola Stuart, but good enough to catch the eye of any guy on the prowl. 1966N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 27 Mar. 35/1 Including his memorable encounters with an emancipated American college girl on the prowl. 1972F. Warner Lying Figures ii. 9 Out on the prowl tonight, lover-boy? 1973‘E. Peters’ City of Gold & Shadows iii. 45 A normal minor wolf on the prowl, with..an eye cocked for congenial company.
b. Comb., as prowl car orig. U.S., a police patrol car having a radio link with headquarters; prowl dog = guard dog s.v. guard n. 18.
1937Sun (Baltimore) 6 Sept. 2/7 The man..climbed into the rear seat of our prowl car. 1953H. Clevely Public Enemy xxix. 229 There's a prowl car outside... You were followed here. 1963J. Joesten They call it Intelligence iv. xix. 188 A prowl car, manned by Western police, providentially arrived on the scene. 1967N. Lucas C.I.D. xi. 169 The presence of one of the Austin vans in the area had not passed unnoticed by the alert crew of a Berkshire County Police wireless prowl car. 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 16 May 11/1 Meantime another prowl car pulled into the yards. 1971Southerly XXXI. 71 A prowl car told us to switch our parkers on. 1974W. Garner Big enough Wreath xii. 163 We got patrols. We got prowl dogs. |