| 释义 |
▪ I. rowdy, n.1 and a.|ˈraʊdɪ|
Also 9 rowdey.
[Of American, but otherwise quite obscure, origin.]
A. n.1 Originally, a backwoodsman of a rough and lawless type; hence, a rough, disorderly person; one addicted to quarrelling, fighting, or disturbing the peace:
a. In American use, or with ref. to America.
1808W. Littell Festoons of Fancy (1814) 62 But it seems to this court that the loss to him would be the same, as if he had lost it among those, whom his gentlemanship is pleased to call rowdies. 1819W. Faux Mem. Days Amer. (1823) 179 No legal inquiry took place, nor, indeed, ever takes place amongst the Rowdies, as the Back-woodsmen are called. Ibid. 277 The hunters, or Illinois Rowdies, as they are called, are rather troublesome. They come rudely with their hats on into the parlour, and, when drunk, threaten Mr. Flower's life. 1824H. C. Knight Lett. fr. South 93 The riotous roisters, or, as they are here [Kentucky] called, rowdies, will fight..from mere love of fighting. 1864Nichols 40 Years Amer. Life II. 89 A mob of Boston rowdies went over to Charlestown and plundered and burnt the Ursuline Convent of Mount Benedict. 1871in De Vere Americanisms s.v., Roughs and rowdies are multiplying fearfully in our borders.
b. In general use.
1865Sat. Rev. 15 July 74/2 The organization of the rowdies was perfect, all Conservative rowdies being massed on one side of the hustings, and all Liberal rowdies on the other. 1887Westm. Rev. June 280 When he assures us that these Belfast rowdies are the most intelligent of the Irish people, we take leave to exercise our own judgment a little. 1905J. B. Firth Highw. & B. Derbyshire 390 A horde of callous rowdies.
B. adj.
1. a. Belonging to the class, having the manners or conduct, of rowdies; of a rough and disorderly type.
1819W. Faux Mem. Days Amer. (1823) 316 When the English first came to Evansville settlement, these Rowdey labourers had nearly scared them out. Ibid. 332 He could not find a man to serve the warrant,..and means to impanel a Rowdey jury, and try the matter before himself. 1844Mrs. Houston Voy. Texas II. 106 The rowdy fellow (anglice scamp) is held in check by the consciousness, that should he offend.., tarring and feathering would be his portion. 1863Hawthorne Our Old Home I. 38 Transforming him..from the most decorous of metropolitan clergymen into the rowdiest and dirtiest of disbanded officers. 1883Ld. R. Gower Reminis. II. 53 A town of steep streets crowded with a rowdy mob.
b. transf. Of animals: Refractory; inclined to give trouble.
1872C. H. Eden My Wife & I in Queensland iii. 69 Branding or securing a troublesome or, colonially, a ‘rowdy’ bullock. 1895A. B. Paterson Man fr. Snowy River (1896) 125, I can ride a rowdy colt.
2. Characteristic of rowdies; esp. marked by disorderly roughness or noise.
1852Bristed Upper Ten Thousand 33 My red wheels are rather rowdy, I must own; not exactly the thing for a gentleman. Ibid. 239 Low, shabby, dirty men{ddd}alike in their slang and rowdy aspect. 1863E. Dicey Federal St. 251 A regular noisy, rowdy, glorious, Fourth of July. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal vi, I think I should go to-night to the most rowdy theatre in London.
▪ II. ˈrowdy, n.2 slang. ? Obs.
[Of obscure origin.]
Cash, coin.
1841Leman Rede Sixteen String Jack i. iv, Kit. He's got the rowdy, hey? Theo. Rowdy! What's rowdy, I wonder? 1850Thackeray Pendennis lxxvi, But he has got the rowdy, which is the thing. 1856Punch 23 Aug. 79 The Queen of Oude May spend her Rowd-y, careless and sans souci.
▪ III. rowdy, v.|ˈraʊdɪ|
[f. rowdy n.1]
a. intr. To play the rowdy; to act in a noisy, disorderly manner.
1896A. Morrison Child Jago 282 You came in drunk, and rowdied about the church with your hat on.
b. trans. To treat in a rowdy manner.
1825J. K. Paulding John Bull in Amer. xii. 209 Notwithstanding..their being regulated and rowdied, and obliged to cut down trees as big round as a hogshead. |