| 释义 |
battle-axe, -ax|ˈbæt(ə)lˌæks|
(The spelling with -ax is now chiefly U.S.)
1. A kind of axe used as a weapon of war in the Middle Ages.
c1380in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 367 Bow, and spier, And battle-axe, their fechting gear. 1437Test. Ebor. (1855) II. 70 Unam loricam de optimis, et optimum batelax. 1546Lanc. Wills II. 27 Also my batell axe wth all other harnishe belongyng to my bodie. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 169 Rear'd aloft the bloody Battle axe. 1762Hume Hist. Eng. II. (1803) xiv. 238 Cleft his adversary to the chin with a battle-ax. 1850Prescott Peru II. 213 Long lances and battle-axes edged with copper.
2. A halberd or bill carried by guards.
1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4536/2 His Excellency proceeded to the Castle, attended by the Privy-Council, with the Guard of Battel-Axes. 1714Ibid. No. 5282/6 The Company of Foot-Guards armed with Battel-axes.
3. Archæol. A type of prehistoric stone weapon; hence applied attrib. to a neolithic culture characterized by this weapon.
1859Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotl. 1856–7 II. 306 Stone Hammer or Battle Axe, formed of fine-grained mica schist. 1880Dawkins Early Man x. 390 A bronze battle-axe fifteen inches in length and seven pounds in weight. 1925Childe Dawn Europ. Civiliz. xii. 198 The most conspicuous weapons, the battle-axes and hammer-axes..go back to the copper age and prove the dominance of the battle-axe element in the population. 1928C. Dawson Age of Gods xii. 268 The Battle-axe Culture. Ibid. 270 The Battle-axe People. 1931Jrnl. R. Anthrop. Inst. LXI. 345 The process of assimilation was accelerated in Sweden and replaced in the East Baltic regions by intrusions of the battle-axe folk... Battle-axes and even battle-axe graves in the dwelling-places are the proofs of their advent. 1950H. L. Lorimer Homer & Monum. i. 6 The Battle-axe culture commonly regarded as Indo-European.
4. fig. A formidable or domineering woman. orig. U.S. slang, now colloq.
1896Ade Artie ix. 81 Say, there was a battle-ax if ever you see one. She had a face on her that'd fade flowers. 1938‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts i. ii. 25 These old female battle-axes don't feaze me. 1957C. Brooke-Rose Languages of Love 8 Do I look like a female novelist? I thought they were all battle-axes. 1959Punch 21 Jan. 135/3 Though slim as an arrow A girl can wax In the course of time To a battle-axe. |