| 释义 |
bower-bird|ˈbaʊəbɜːd|
1. The name given to several Australian birds belonging to the Starling family, remarkable for their habit of building bowers or ‘runs’, and adorning them with feathers, bones, shells, etc. These are not used as nests, but as places of resort.
1847Carpenter Zool. §395. 1884 [see bower n.1 4].
2. fig. A person who collects ornaments, odds and ends, etc. (see also quot. 1943). Also attrib. Hence as v. intr., to pick up odds and ends.
1926Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 193/2 Such bower-birds' treasures as au pied de la lettre, à merveille. Ibid. 194/1 Every writer..who suspects himself of the bower-bird instinct should make and use some such classification system. 1941K. Tennant Battlers xxvii. 301 George the Bower-bird..was..prowling around deserted camps, swooping on rubbish. Ibid., I don't want him bower-birding round this camp. 1943Baker Austral. Slang (ed. 3) 13 Bower bird, a petty thief. |