| 释义 |
ropy, a.|ˈrəʊpɪ|
Also 6 ropye, 7 roapie, 7–8 roapy, 20– ropey.
[f. rope n.1 + -y.]
1. a. Forming or developing viscid, glutinous, or slimy threads; sticky and stringy.
1480Caxton Trevisa's Higden iii. xx, Lentulus spat and þrewe ropy spotel in his face. a1500Promp. Parv. 436/2 Ropy as ale,..viscosus. a1529Skelton E. Rummyng 24 Her lewde lyppes..slauer, men sayne, Lyke a ropy rayne. 1547Borde Introd. Knowl. i. (1870) 123 There ale is starke nought, lokinge whyte & thycke,..smoky and ropye. 1651J. Cleveland Poems (1677) 87 Like Snakes engendring were platted her Tresses, Or like to slimy streaks of Ropy Ale. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 759 Roapy Gore he from his Nostrils bleeds. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 122 All that roapy, viscid gluten, separated there by the Glands. 1772T. Percival Ess. (1777) I. 337 The mucilaginous or ropy substance which grows copiously on it. 1831Youatt Horse viii. 150 A considerable discharge of ropy fluid from the mouth. 1850Brit. Assoc. Rep. Sections (1851) 60 Observations on Ropy Bread. 1877Blackmore Erema III. xliii. 45 With a swirl and a curl of ropy mud. 1935J. Lawrance Painting from A to Z xi. 103 Thick, ropey coats of paint look unsightly. 1940H. L. Hind Brewing ii. xxxvii. 917 The general consensus of practical brewing opinion in Great Britain seems to be that a species of coccus or ‘sarcina’ is nearly always to be found in samples of ropy beer. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Feb. 165/3 Stock should not be allowed to drink from stagnant pools, as these are a source of the organism responsible for ropey milk.
fig.1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 534 If there be any thing of..selfishness, or other passion intermingled, it is ropy and imperfect. 1791Gifford Baviad & Mæviad (1794) 44 The ropy drivil of rheumatic brains. 1815J. C. Hobhouse Substance Lett. (1816) II. 187 The writers whose best pages seem but..ropy drivellings.
b. transf. of the air.
1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 64/1 You will find the Air..thick and heavy, and perfectly ropy; so that..you shall sometimes see a sort of strings..like cobwebs. 1788J. May Jrnl. & Lett. (1873) 106 My lungs..have been irritated for several days by the thick ropy air. 1789Ibid. 125, I often find them [sc. beds] musty, and the air of the sleeping-rooms thick and ropy.
c. fig. Bad, unsatisfactory, unreliable, unwell. slang and colloq.
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 18 Apr. 10, I then commanded a scratch squadron of rather ropey machines. 1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 131 It will probably show how ropy your judgement is on modern types. 1944S. Gibbons Bachelor xvi. 144, I think you must have a ropey time. Worrying about the poor, and giving all your money away and not eating much. 1945Gen 30 June 51/1 He's feeling a bit ropey now, and he's going to have a bad night. 1953E. Hyams Gentian Violet iii. 42 Their aircraft are pretty ropey. 1957Daily Mail 3 Dec. 14/1 It is, of course, very difficult to get waiters on New Year's Eve. If you hire them outside, you may get a few ropey types. 1959W. D. Pereira North Flight ii. 33 You look a bit ropey, Dad, why don't you go home..and relax? 1961Sunday Express 15 Jan. 4/6, I feel a bit ropey... I think I've picked up some sort of virus. 1963Times 20 May 6/5 Some of the acting is a bit ropy. 1971J. Aiken Nightly Deadshade iii. 22 Mother..was crippled and Father left her... Everything was one hundred per cent ropy except that she had a little money. 1978F. Mann Acupuncture (ed. 3) ix. 138 Sometimes a ropy pulse occurs in elderly people who have had many illnesses affecting several bodily systems, all of which have been only partly cured.
d. Of a cow: producing ropy milk.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. 60/3 But what did farmers do? They sent all their ropy cows to F[atstock] M[arketing] C[orporation] and flogged the best in the auction mart.
2. Having the form or tenacity of a rope; suggestive of a rope.
1765Museum Rust. IV. 5 There still are grass and weeds remaining, that will the next ploughing cause the furrows to be ropy. 1823Roscoe tr. Sismondi's Lit. Eur. (1846) II. xxxii. 346 The massy heap of ropy ringlets his vast hands divide. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. xxvi. 289 Spongy lavas, which the volcano blast drags hither and thither into ropy coils. 1881Judd Volcanoes iv. 98 Lavas which present this appearance are frequently called ‘ropy lavas’. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 132 Otherwise it was mostly long whitened grass, frizzled bushes, and hundreds of ropey little trees, fifteen feet high. 1976Nature 26 Feb. 650/1 Sample ARP 74–14–31, with a ropey surface showing flow direction, has a preserved glassy crust and a palagonite layer overlain by a thin manganese coating.
fig.1878Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. iii. 22 Zeph..is one o' them ropy, stringy fellers, jest like touch-wood. |