| 释义 |
ˈpress-gang, n.
[f. press n.2 or v.2 + gang n.1]
1. A body of men employed, under the command of an officer, to press men for service in the navy or army. Also transf.
1693in C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet (1894) 424 That all officers who send men to the press shall give them tickets, No. 1 to 15, expressing in their tickets what press-gang they belong to. 1707Inquiry Causes Miscarriages in Harl. Misc. I. 566 Being the other day at the water-side, I saw a press-gang hauling and dragging a man, in a most barbarous manner, in order to send him on board a press⁓ketch. 1739Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 212 In the middle of the sermon, the press-gang came, and seized on one of the hearers. 1771C. Burney Present State of Mus. France & Italy 119 These boys are a kind of press-gang, who seize all other boys they can find in their way to the church, in order to be catechised. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk., Widow & Son §12 He was entrapped by a press-gang, and carried off to sea. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games i. 18 In some places the press-gang think they will be successful if they demand, ‘Join the ring or tell us your sweetheart's name.’
2. joc. A group of journalists; the press (press n.1 14 g).
1840Spirit of Times 11 Jan. 535/1 In compliment to the ‘Press gang’ Messr. Prentice and Weissinger..were invited to occupy seats over the Judge's stand. 1859L. Wilmer Our Press Gang xxvi. 353 Our newspapers, in general are the organs of the mob, and..the Press Gang itself is..a mob of the worst kind. 1859G. H. Lewes Let. 20 Apr. in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) III. 54 Nor have I any relations with the pressgang here..the Edinburgh papers might advantageously be employed in this matter. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 27, I will attend to the Buffalo books for the press..did I tell you that I took dinner with the whole press gang yesterday? 1889Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Oct. 4/3 Ask what you like, my good sir; don't you know I am one of the press gang myself? 1941F. L. Mott Amer. Journalism xxxv. 603 Many stories are told of the conviviality of the Chicago ‘press gang’ of the nineties, and from the legends which grew up..sprang the concept of the romantic sot of the newspaper office. 1975H. Waugh Bride for Hampton House (1976) i. 1 She..waved at the press gang when she took the big elevator to the newsroom floor.
Hence ˈpress-gang v., trans. and intr. = press v.2; ˈpress-ganged ppl. a., ˈpress-ganging vbl. n.
1863Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. vii, There'll be no more press-ganging here awhile. 1882Fraser's Mag. XXV. 756 The surfeit of learning which so unhesitatingly leads the pressganged scholar to accelerate his emancipation from the school or university. 1899Westm. Gaz. 14 Mar. 1/2 Mr. George Harwood,..member for Bolton,..mentioned casually that his grandfather had been ‘press-ganged’ into the Royal Navy... The grandfather of Mr. Billson, the Radical member for Halifax, had similarly been the victim of ‘press-ganging’. |