| 释义 |
▪ I. brisk, a. and n.|brɪsk|
Also 7 briske, brisque.
[First found in end of 16th c.; evidently familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Derivation uncertain: Welsh brysg (used of briskness of foot) occurs in a poem of the 14th c. This appears to answer in form to OIr. brisc, Ir. briosg, Gael. brisg, Breton bresk, ‘brittle’, ‘crumbly’; but it is not easy to connect the senses.
It is however possible that brisk is identical with F. brusque (which appears as bruisk in Sc. c 1560, and as bruske as early as 1600); at least Cotgr. gives brisk as a translation of brusque, and the words appear to have influenced each other in early use. See brusque.]
A. adj.
1. Sharp or smart in regard to movement (in a praiseworthy sense) quick and active, lively.
a. of persons. (Sometimes used of disposition = ‘cheery, sprightly, lively’, but this is now chiefly dial.)
[1560T. Archbald Let. in Keith Hist. Scotl. (1734) 489 (Jam.) Thir ar the imbassadoris..thai depart wondrous bruisk.] 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 16 Chearly Boyes, Be brisk awhile. 1611Cotgr., Brusque, briske, liuely, quicke, etc. Ibid. Frisque, friske, liuely, iolly, blithe, briske, fine, spruce, gay. 1613R. C. Table Alph., Brisque, quick, liuely, fierce. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 298 A company of bold, young brisk fellows. 1828Scott F.M. Perth I. 5 The brisk, alert agent of a great house in the city. 1882C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xvi. 120 A bright, brisk lad, fresh from Oxford.
b. of actions and motions. (The prevalent modern use.)
1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 101 To enter with him a brisk encounter. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. xi. §5 It must needs be some exteriour Cause, and the brisk acting of some Objects without me. 1756Burke Subl. & B. Wks. I. 245 A slow and languid motion [of the eye] is more beautiful than a brisk one. 1777Watson Philip II (1839) II. 213 He made a brisk attack upon one of the gates. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. i. vii. 91 He..opened a brisk cannonade on the enemy. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxii, The brisk pace of men who had errands before them.
c. of trade: Active, lively.
1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 339 When Trade is brisk, Money..is more in view. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Vall. iv. 49 The demand for iron was so brisk. 1833― Br. Creek iii. 64 A brisk traffic took place in the remaining articles.
d. of wind, fire, etc.
1725Pope Odyss. xii. 184 Up sprung a brisker breeze. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. I. iii. 203 At last a brisk gale arose. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 133 New and brisk fountains of water rise at spring tides. 1837M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 269 The brisk fire should..be only employed when the meat is half roasted.
e. of purgatives.
1799Med. Jrnl. II. 236 He had a brisk cathartic given him. 1815Scribbleomania 207 note, They've drench'd her with cathartics brisk.
2. In allied senses, chiefly unfavourable.
†a. Sharp-witted, pert; curt.
†b. ‘Fast’ of life.
†c. Over hasty.
†d. Unpleasantly sharp of tone. (With c, d, cf. Fr. brusque.)
e. Quickly passing, brief.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 6 These most briske and giddy-paced times. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. Addr. 13 Divers of the brisker Geniusses, who desire rather to be accounted Witts, then endeavour to be so. 1667Evelyn in Four C. Eng. Lett. 108 The smoothest or briskest strokes of his Pindaric lyre. 1667Pepys Diary (1877) V. 422 The Surveyor began to be a little brisk at the beginning. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. 8 When that brisk and improvident Resolution was taken. 1676G. Etherege Man of Mode i. i. (1684) 11 He has been, as the sparkish word is, Brisk Upon the Ladies already. 1700Penn. Archives I. 138, I send yee y⊇ Coots [= Court's] Lettr wch is very brisk. 1739Cibber Apol. vii. 214 The briskest loose Liver or intemperate Man. [1879Browning Ned Bratts 23 Some trial for life and death, in a brisk five minutes' space.]
†3. Smartly or finely dressed; spruce. Obs.
1590Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv. ad fin., I have not seen a dapper jack so brisk. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 54 To see him shine so briske, and smell so sweet. 1603Patient Grissil 17 My brisk spangled baby will come into a stationer's shop.
4. Of liquors: Agreeably sharp or smarting to the taste; effervescent, as opposed to ‘flat’ or ‘stale’. (So It. brusco, Fr. vin brusque in Cotgr.) Similarly of the air: Fresh, keen, stimulating.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 48 A Cup of Wine, that's briske and fine. 1697Potter Antiq. Greece iii. ix. (1715) 75 Brisk Wines and Viands animate Their Souls. 1741Brownrigg in Phil. Trans. LV. 242 The brisk and pungent taste of the acidulæ. 1776Sir W. Forbes in Boswell Johnson II. 404 A bottle of beer..is made brisker by being set before the fire. 1837Disraeli Venetia i. ii, The air was brisk. 1846J. Joyce Sci. Dialogues vii. 213 You see of what importance air is to give to all our liquors their pleasant and brisk flavour. 1877L. Morris Epic Hades ii. 198.
†5. Sharp to other senses; distinct, vivid.
†a. to the hearing. Obs.
1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. i. 21 There is..produced a considerably brisk noise. 1667Primatt City & C. Build. 51 Bricks well burnt..if you strike them with any thing, will make a brisk sound.
†b. to the sight. Obs.
a1727Newton (J.) Had it [my instrument] magnified thirty or twenty-five times, it had made the object appear more brisk and pleasant.
6. Comb.
a. adverbial, as brisk-going, brisk sparkling;
b. parasynthetic, as brisk-spirited.
1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4868/4 A..Cart Horse..brisk Spirited. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. iii. 132 Like a strong brisk-going undershot-wheel. 1837― Fr. Rev. II. iii. i. 128 Our brisk-sparkling assiduous official person.
†B. n.
a. A ‘brisk’ or smart person; a gallant, a fop. (Cf. A 3 above.)
b. A lively, forward woman, a wanton.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iii. i. ii. (1651) 604 A yong gallant..a Fastidious Brisk, that can wear his cloaths well in fashion. 1689N. Lee Princ. of Cleve (N.) The forward brisk, she that promis'd me the ball assignation.
▪ II. brisk, v.|brɪsk|
[f. the adj.]
1. trans. To make brisk; to freshen, enliven, animate, exhilarate, quicken. Now with up or (colloq.) about.
1628Feltham Resolves i. lxxxiv. 261, I like a cup to briske the spirits. 1666J. Smith Old Age 112 The blood in the Arteries newly brisked in the fountain. 1710T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 321 Bennet Pills..exalt and brisk up the..heavy Blood. 1829E. Jesse Jrnl. Nat. 241 That portion of vital air which brisks up animality without consuming the sustenance of life. 1864Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ix, We want to brisk her up, and brisk her about. 1879Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 15 Modestine brisked up her pace.
2. intr. (for refl.) to brisk about: to move about briskly. to brisk up: to come up briskly; to become brisk, to behave or move in a brisk manner. (Also without up.)
1727Moreton Apparitions 195 The lady..brisking up to him as if she would fight him. 1830in Webster, Brisk up,..to come up with life and speed; to take an erect, or bold attitude. 1881Mrs. Holman Hunt Childr. Jerus. 169 He was up and brisking about. 1884L. B. Walford Nan II. 76 After this adventure, we seemed..to brisk up afresh. 1915H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) iii. 40 As I brisked out of bed the following morning at half-after six. 1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 170 The rattle of rifle fire dwindled away at times to separate and scattered shots, brisked up again and rose to a long roll. 1938L. MacNeice Earth Compels 40 You should see her in jodhpurs Brisking in to breakfast from a morning canter. 1966Listener 24 Nov. 764/1 Claire..brisks up the even flow of strictly grammatical dialogue.
3.
†a. trans. To smarten up; to dress finely, to trim. Obs.
b. intr. (for refl.)
1592Greene Disput. Conny-catcher Wks. (Grosart) X. 204 Doest thou maruell to see me thus briskt? 1613Beaum. & Fl. Hon. Man's Fort. ii. i, Prune and briske myself in the bright shine Of his good Lordships fortune. 1637G. Daniel Genius of Isle 45 Whilst Neptune, to court Amphitrite doth briske. 1710Palmer Proverbs 259 The young cock..stood brisking up his comb and gills. 1861Trollope Tales of all Countries 193 Susan brisked up a little for the occasion [a wedding] and looked very pretty as bridesmaid.
Hence brisked ppl. a., ˈbrisking vbl. n.
1644Bulwer Chiron. 109 The brisked spirits. 1717J. Killingbeck Serm. 223 (L.) For the relief of our natures; for the brisking up our spirits. |