| 释义 |
bantam|ˈbæntəm|
[Supposed to be named from Bantam in the north-west of Java, whence perhaps the fowls were imported to Europe, though, according to Crawford, originally from Japan.]
1. a. A small variety of the domestic fowl, most breeds of which have feathered legs: the cocks are spirited fighters.
1749Mrs. Delany Autobiog. (1861) II. 518 We fed all the bantams, guinea-fowl, pheasants. 1862Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. I. 184 Knock'd the bantam cock right down.
b. fig. in reference to small size or ‘cockiness.’
1782Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode R. Acad. Wks. 1812 I. 21 And struts the veriest Bantam-cock of paint. 1837Dickens Pickw. 469 ‘Do you always smoke arter you goes to bed, old cock?’.. ‘Yes, I does, young bantam.’ 1863Burton Bk. Hunter 59 Those pretty little pets, the Elzevir classics, a sort of literary bantams.
c. bantam weight (Boxing): see quot. 1954.
1884Times 10 Apr. 6/4 The competitions were this year five in number, or one more than usual, a cup having been instituted for ‘bantam weights’, or men not exceeding 8 st. 4 lb. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 71/2 An attempt to match the coxswains for a bantam-weight contest. 1897Encycl. Sport May 139/2 Boxers are divided by the Amateur Boxing Association into five classes, according to their weights, as follows:—Bantam Weight, not exceeding 8 st. 4 lb. 1903,1910[see welter Weight 2]. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 8 Bantamweight, a standard weight division for professional boxers weighing more than 8 st. but not more than 8 st. 6 lb.; amateurs 8 st. and 8 st. 7 lb. respectively.
d. Applied to battalions, etc., of small-sized soldiers.
1914Daily Express 20 Nov. 5/5 ‘Bigland's Bantams’ will probably be the pet name of a battalion which is being raised of men who are just too short to enlist under the ordinary conditions... The Bantams Battalion has been recognised by the War Office. 1914Scotsman 11 Dec. 7/4 The Edinburgh Rotary Club..has now completed arrangements for the raising of a ‘Bantam Battalion’. 1927Observer 30 Oct. 7 The 35th was a bantam division which went out to France very early in 1916.
2. bantam-work: ‘a kind of Indian painting, and carving on wood, resembling Japan-work, only more gay.’ Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753. |