| 释义 |
bumbailiff|ˈbʌmˈbeɪlɪf|
Forms: 7 bumbaylie, 7, 9 dial. -baily, 7 -bayliff(e, 7– -bailiff.
[app. f. bum n.1 + bailiff: i.e. the bailiff that is close at the debtor's back, or that catches him in the rear. Cf. the F. equivalent pousse-cul, colloquially shortened to cul, precisely like the Eng. bum.]
A contemptuous synonym of bailiff 2: ‘A bailiff of the meanest kind; one that is employed in arrests’ (J.).
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 194 Scout mee for him at the corner of the Orchard like a bum-Baylie. 1638G. M. Ess. & Char. Prison & Pr. 30 The very offscum of the rascall multitude, as..Decoyes, Bum-bayliffes, disgraced Pursevants..and a rabble of such stinkardly companions. 1650J. Jones Judges Judg. 34 [Debtors] taken..from their Ploughs, which are their Livelihood..by vagrant Bum⁓baylies, and imprisoned. 1768–78Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 528 The two necessary ministers of justice, a bum-bailiff and a Jack Ketch. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. iii. ii. (1849) 148, I have a mortal antipathy to catchpolls, bumbailiffs and little great men. 1859Thackeray Virgin. i, A confounded pettifogging bum-bailiff. |