| 释义 |
▪ I. billet, n.1|ˈbɪlɪt|
Forms: 5 bylet, 5–6 billette, 6 billot, billotte, 7 bullet, 6– billet.
[ME. and AF. billette, AngloL. billetta, dim. of billa, bille, bill n.3 (But billete occurs also in continental OF., apparently as a variant of bullete, in med.L. bulletta, dim. of L. bulla; and this may have contributed to the Eng. form.)]
†1. gen.
a. A short written document; a small paper, notice, or note; a label. Obs.
[1317in Dugdale Monast. Angl. I. 654 Secundum quod continetur in quadam billetta inter sigillum & scriptum ante consignationem affixa.] c1440Promp. Parv. 36 Bylet, scrowe [v.r. Bille], matricula. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, x. §2 Acquietaunce, writynges, billes, or billettis, wherby it may appere..[that] the seid Commyssioners..have receyved the somme. 1555Fardle Facions ii. iv. 142 Thei caried vppon their foreheades..pretie billettes of Paper..these were called their Philacteries.
†b. A bill of fare. Obs. rare.
1577Harrison England ii. xv. (1877) 272 Which bill [of dishes] some doo call a memoriall, other a billet.
2. spec. A short informal letter, a ‘note’. arch.
1579Fenton Guicciard. v. (1599) 218 Writing to him billets and letters full of office and humanitie. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. III. x. 58 The King..receiv'd little Billets, or Letters..without any Name, which advertised him of wicked designs upon his life. 1712Steele Spect. No. 306 ⁋2 The Lady..writ this Billet to her Lover. 1807T. Jefferson Corr. (1830) 78 Once in a winter, he usually wrote him a billet of invitation to dine. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 49 Carrying billets backward and forward between his patron and the ugliest maids of honour. 1877Merivale Rom. Triumv. viii. 166 They thrust billets into his hand, inscribed ‘Brutus, thou sleepest.’
†3. A written permission to enter a theatre, public place, etc.; an order, a pass. Obs. or arch.
1697C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 33 Although I had a Pasport..I was oblig'd to take a Billet from the Toll-House. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris 335 The conductor examined the billets of admission [to the catacombs]. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xvi. (1865) 124 A pretty liberal issue of those cheap billets in Brinsley's easy autograph.
4. Mil.
a. An official order requiring the person to whom it is addressed to provide board and lodging for the soldier bearing it. (The ordinary modern sense.) Hence billet-master, the official whose duty it is to make out billets; billet-money, the cost of quartering soldiers; also fig. every bullet has its billet (i.e. its destination assigned): only those are killed whose death Providence has ordained.
1644in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. II. 649 That no Billet shall be granted upon any of the Inhabitants without their consent. 1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6152/3 His Officers and Soldiers; who were by those Billets dispersed into Quarters in several Parts of the Town. 1811Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. VII. 140 A Billet is a legal order from a competent authority to the person to whom it is addressed to provide lodging for the bearer of it. 1640–4King's Sp. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 614 That which is owing to this County for Billet-Money. 1765Wesley Jrnl. 6 June, He never received one wound. So true is the odd saying of King William, that ‘every bullet has its billet.’ 1837[see bullet n.1 7]. 1922Joyce Ulysses 366 The ball rolled down to her as if it understood. Every bullet has its billet.
b. A place in which a soldier is billeted; a soldier's lodging or quarters. Also gen., spec. in the war of 1939–45, quarters assigned to civilian evacuees.
1830E. S. N. Campbell Dict. Mil. Sci. 26 Any Justice may, at the request of the Officer or Non-commissioned Officer commanding any Soldiers requiring Billets, extend the Routes or enlarge the District within which Billets shall be required. 1858Billets & Bivouacs 246 Thou long-suffering reader,..tarry with me yet a moment in the last billet we shall ever share together—my dark abode on the dreary shores of Old Father Thames. 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 571/2 The army lived in barracks, camps, or billets. 1919Wodehouse Damsel in Distress vii, So George took up his abode..in the plainly-furnished but not uncomfortable cottage... He might have found a worse billet. 1942E. Waugh Put out more Flags iii. 161 Getting harder to find billets, particularly since the anti-aircraft battery had come to South Grappling. 1946[see billetee, billettee]. 1968A. Sillitoe in B. S. Johnson Evacuees 238 We were allotted to four different houses, and taken by car to our separate billets.
c. transf. An appointment, post, or ‘berth’.
1870Cassell's Mag. II. 58/1 The private..doesn't see why..he should give up his billet as pioneer or canteen waiter. 1887‘Hopeful’ ‘Taken-in’ 135 If you are out of work, or out of a situation, as we say, here [sc. in N. Zealand] it is called ‘out of billet’. 1890Hornung Bride fr. Bush xvii, If ever she went back to Australia, she'd remember my young man, and get him a good billet. 1890Lippincott's Monthly Mag. XLV. 384 A billet as clerk in the recruiting rendezvous. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 10 Billet, a position or job.
†5. A voting-paper used in voting by ballot. Act of Billets (Scotch Parl. 1662): a measure by which the twelve persons excepted from the King's Indemnity were to be chosen by secret voting.
1627Lisander & Cal. ix. 195 Three billets were made with their three names which were all put into a cask. 1676W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. 450 That..unjust, unreasonable, and illegal Act of Billets. c1690Lauderdale Speech in Mackenzie Mem. 85 Some Republicks use the Billet, or the Ballot, in giving places. 1781J. Moore View Soc. It. (1790) I. xi. 121 Each elector..throws a little billet into an urn..On this billet is inscribed the person's name.
‖6. A bank-note. [French; used by Carlyle for local colouring.]
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iii. 207 Billets of a new National Bank.
¶ See other senses which may belong here, at the end of billet n.2
▪ II. ˈbillet, n.2
Also 4–6 billette, 5 bylet, 5–6 belet, 6 byllet, 8 billot.
[a. F. billette (OF. billete), and billot, diminutives of bille ‘trunk of a tree, length of round timber’; in 12th c. med.L. billa and billus ‘branch, trunk of a tree’: of unknown origin. (The Celtic derivation given by Littré and others is erroneous. The alleged Irish bille ‘trunk of a tree,’ is only one of the innumerable figments of O'Reilly's Dictionary. Whitley Stokes.)]
1. a. A thick piece of wood cut to a suitable length for fuel.
[1361in Rymer Fœdera VI. 316 Quatuor Milia Billetorum..Emi & Provideri.] c1440Promp. Parv. 36 Bylet, schyde, tedula. 1635W. Austin Medit. 36 Surely many stickes together, burne more vehemently, then a single Billet. 1748Anson Voy. ii. ii. 133 Some of our men..were employed in cutting down trees, and splitting them into billets. 1846Prescott Ferd. & Is. II. v. 349 He slept on the ground with a billet of wood for his pillow.
†b. collect. Wood so cut for fuel; billet-wood. Obs.
1465Mann. & Househ. Exp. 482 Payd fore a cartfulle of belet at Eltam, ijs. viijd. 1559Fabyan vii. 705 The maior..solde to the poore people billet and faggot, by the peniworthe. 1642Chas. I in Let. Student Oxf. 1 Where..was fuell and billet enough. 1664Evelyn Sylva (1679) 27 The smaller trunchions..make billet, bavine, and coals.
†c. Fire-wood of size regulated by law. Obs.
1502Arnold Chron. (1811) 98 Item that euery Esex belet of one [shide] contayn in lengith with the Carf iij fote and half of assise and in gretnes in y⊇ middes xv inches. 1542–3Act 34–35 Hen. VIII, iii, The vntrewe lengthe and quantitie of faggotte talwood, and billette. 1581Lambarde Eiren. ii. vii. (1588) 208.
2. A (thick) stick used as a weapon. † single billet: single stick.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 58 Or they shall beat out my braines with billets. 1613Beaum. & Fl. Captain ii. i. 53/1 Fighting at single billet with a barge-man. [1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 88 Nan..was taking up a billet to knock me on the head.]
3. A small bar of metal.
†a. A ‘bar’ or ingot of gold or silver.
b. Of iron or steel: see quot.
[1353Act. 27 Edw. III, ii. §14 Plate dargent, billettes dor et tut autre maner dor.] 1670Blount Law Dict., Billets of Gold, Wedges or Ingots of Gold. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Billet 1. Iron or steel, drawn from a pile, bloom, or ingot, into a small bar for further manufacture. 2. A small bloom. 1883Daily News 8 Oct. 2/5 In Bessemer steel..hoops and billets are somewhat easier to buy.
4. Arch. An ornamental moulding used in Norman architecture, consisting of short cylindrical pieces placed lengthwise at regular intervals in hollow mouldings; sometimes in two or more rows, breaking joint. Also attrib.
1835T. Hope Hist. Ess. Archit. xiii. (1840) I. 139 Never extended beyond the jejune form of the lozenge..or the zig-zag, and the billet. 1845R. Ford Handbk. Trav. Spain II. xiii. 980/2 Observe the singular billet patterns on the arches. 1870F. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 69 Their billet ornamentation and its chequered shade. 1879Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. II. 86 The chamfers of a string or label relieved with the billet or short piece of roll left projecting from them at intervals. 1926R. Glazier Man. Hist. Ornament (ed. 4) 45 Later Norman work is very rich, the mouldings being well carved with..the Chevron,..Billet,..or Key Patterns.
5. pl. The excrements of a fox. (cf. billeting 3.)
¶ The following senses belong doubtfully to this or the prec. word.
6. Her. A bearing of the shape of a rectangle placed on end. (Variously conjectured by early writers to represent a folded letter, a brick, and cloth of gold.)
1592W. Wyrley Armorie 153 A siluer fes 'tween many billets gold. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iv. v. (1660) 279 This Billet in Armory is taken for a paper folded up in form of a letter. 1724Ibid. (ed. 6) Dict., Billets..Tresor Heraldique says, most Authors take them for Bricks. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Billets, in Heraldry, are supposed to represent pieces of cloth of gold or silver. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. ii. 24 The eleven argent billets on their azure shield.
†7. transf. and fig. Obs.
1548Hall Chron. (1809) 613, xii persones all ridyng on coursers barded and apparelled in white Sattin and blacke broched with gold and silver with cuttes and culpynes muche after tawny and blacke Sattin Billottes. c1600G. Wyatt in Cavendish's Wolsey (1825) II. 200 So many cross billets of cunning polities, surmounted by the guiding providence of God.
8. Saddlery.
a. A strap which enters a buckle.
b. A pocket or loop which receives the end of a buckled strap.
1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. 195, Ij. peyr of brode reynys, and ij. new bellet-thongs. 1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 137 The tassels, the plated buckles, and the leather billets. Ibid. 138 The tassel, and the billet and buckle to complete it, is also 3s.
9. Comb. and attrib., as billet-dealer, billet-wood, etc.; billet-head, a piece of wood at the bow of a whale-boat, round which the harpoon line runs; also ‘a carved prow bending in and out, contrariwise to the fiddle-head (scroll-head)’ Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.; billet mill (see quot. 1910); billet moulding = billet n.2 4.
a1625Fletcher Noble Gent. iii. i. 35 There's not the least of the *billet dealers But have it in measure delicate.
1840R. Dana Bef. Mast xxxv. 134 The cornucopia which ornamented her *billet-head.
1910H. P. Tiemann Iron & Steel 282 Billets, blooms, small slabs, and sheet bars are produced on a mill called a *billet mill, blooming mill, or cogging mill. 1958Times 7 Jan. 15/1 The billet mill should be completed before the end of the current financial year.
1851Ruskin Stones Ven. I. xxiv. §3 What is called the Norman *billet moulding.
1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. Norf. 70 A Fire of clean *Billet-wood.
1772Phil. Trans. LXII. 90 Billet-wood for fewel.
▪ III. ˈbillet, n.3
Also billit.
[perh. a corruption of billard; perh. the correct form, and identical with prec. word.]
A coal-fish, when one year old. Cf. billard 1.
1769Pennant Zool. III. 153 They [the fry of the coalfish] are called at Scarborough Parrs, and when a year old, Billets. 1832J. Cole Scarbor. Guide 108 The principal fish..for sale are..parr, billits, cole fish. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 10 Mounted Lines for..Billet, and all surface fish.
▪ IV. billet, v.|ˈbɪlɪt|
Also 7 billit, billett. Pa. tense and pple. billeted.
[f. billet n.1]
†1. trans. To enter in a list; to enroll. Obs.
1607Shakes. Cor. iv. iii. 48 The Centurions, and their charges distinctly billetted..and to be on foot at an houres warning. 1618Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 218 He billetted the said pioneers for several ships. 1629R. Hill Pathw. Piety I. Pref. 11 Blessed and billeted up be they in Heaven.
2. a. To assign quarters to (soldiers) by a note or ticket; to quarter (troops) in, at, on, upon, with.
1599Nashe Lent. Stuffe (1871) 10 For ten weeks together this rabble-rout..are billetted with her. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 386 Go where thou art Billited. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. 33 They refused to suffer the Soldiers to be billetted upon them. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 85 Companies of soldiers were billeted on the people.
b. gen. To assign or appoint quarters to; to locate. (With 1837 cf. billet n.1 4.) spec., in the war of 1939–45, to assign quarters to (civilian evacuees). Freq. const. on.
1606Sylvester Du Bartas, Columnes iv. ii. ii. 643 In what bright starry Signe, th' Almighty dread, Dayes Princely Planet's dayly billeted. 1650R. Gell Serm. 15 We finde the twelve Tribes..billeted according to the four Quarters of heaven. 1837Dickens Pickw. xix, Shots..cast loose upon the world and billeted nowhere. 1939Punch 6 Dec. 631/3 It was when you first heard that little Sidney and the others were to be billeted on you. 1942E. Waugh Put out more Flags iii. 165 Wait till the gentleman billets you. 1955Times 2 Aug. 8/6, I dimly recognized one of the children who had been billeted on us during the wartime evacuation, and who had gone back to London 10 years ago.
†c. To give quarters to, lodge. Obs.
1637Quarles Elegy Wks. 1881 III. 15 Sorrow is the Guest Which I must entertaine, and billet in my brest.
†3. intr. (for refl.) To have quarters. Obs. rare.
1628in Parr's Lett. 400 (L.) He billets in my lodgings.
4. trans. To serve (a person) with a billet.
1833Marryat P. Simple xxiv, ‘Conscripts!’ said the woman of the house..‘I am billeted full already.’
†5. To select by billet (see billet n.1 5); to ballot. Obs.
c1690Sir G. Mackenzie Mem. Aff. Scotland 75 Lauderdale..askt the King, ‘What if they billet me, Sir?’..Then Lauderdale told him that he was billeted. |