| 释义 |
▪ I. scutter, n. Chiefly dial.|ˈskʌtə(r)|
[f. scutter v.2]
An act of ‘scuttering’; a hasty, scrambling, noisy rush.
1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 238 Ilka half⁓hour there was a toutin o' horns lang tin anes, I'm sure, frae the scutter o' broken-winded soun. 1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights xiii. (1850) 127 The dog's endeavour to avoid him was unsuccessful; as I guessed by a scutter down stairs, and a prolonged piteous yelping. 1935E. Pound Let. 23 May (1971) 274 The turn of the wave and the scutter of receding pebbles. 1961H. R. F. Keating Rush on Ultimate i. 9 Clearly visible from their moderate height the violent scutter of human activity—figures running up and down on the beach in short sharp bursts. 1980Times 16 Jan. 14/8 The Anglo-Egyptian treaty was settled up in 1936 in a sort of scutter.
▪ II. scutter, n.2 U.S. dial.|ˈskʌtə(r)|
[Of uncertain origin: perh. f. scutter v.2 (see also Sc. Nat. Dict.).]
One who or that which is remarkable or extraordinary; (often familiarly) a great rascal or scamp, a ‘devil’.
1940Sat. Even. Post 6 Jan. 15/1 He's a pure D scutter, ain't he, papa? 1958H. Babcock I don't want to shoot Elephant 164 He'll lick the stuffing out of any interloper who tries to bring me a bird... ‘Right humorsome old scutter,’ I commented. 1960V. Williams Walk Egypt i. vi. 50, I swear,..every time I think of the way that little scutter done—and me only trying to be neighborly. 1978J. Carroll Mortal Friends i. i. 6 The scutter, Brady thought. Serves me right. The ingrates.
▪ III. † ˈscutter, v.1 Obs. rare—1.
App. a var. of squitter v., intr. to have diarrhœa.
1565K. Daryus (Brandl) 1140 Nay then I wil geue you no bread and butter. Here, take some, it will make thee to scutter.
▪ IV. scutter, v.2 orig. colloq. and dial.|ˈskʌtə(r)|
[? Alteration of scuttle v. with substitution of suffix -er5.]
intr. To go hastily with much fuss and bustle, as from excitement or timidity. Also fig.
1781in Mrs. Delany's Corr. Ser. ii. (1862) III. 44 She staid abt 24 hours, then scutter'd away to Badminton. 1862Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. xxvii, The men..scuttered down the stairs. 1892Kipling Life's Handicap 160 A whirling dust-devil would scutter across the plain for a couple of miles. 1892J. Barlow Irish Idylls iv. 102 She scuttered off towards her dwelling. 1916A. Bennett Lion's Share xvii. 128 Miss Ingate scuttered to Audrey. ‘Well,’ she whispered. ‘Here I am.’ 1920Wodehouse Jill the Reckless (1922) xxi. 313 All these people... Scuttering about and thinking they know all there is to know. 1934E. Pound ABC of Reading ii. 99 Inferior passages where he..has..scuttered over less interesting matter. 1947A. Ransome Great Northern? vi. 82 A family of baby water-hens scuttered across. 1948L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 38 A pebble Scutters from under the wheel. 1972R. Adams Watership Down viii. 28 They watched him..shake a shower of drops out of his fur and scutter into the alder bushes.
Hence ˈscuttering vbl. n. (also attrib.).
1848W. E. Forster in T. W. Reid Life (1888) I. 232 We heard cannon firing and a mighty scuttering among the guards. 1888Fenn Dick o' the Fens xxvi. 364 Noises in the fen..mingled with the quacking of the ducks and the scuttering of the drakes. Ibid. 367 The scuttering noise made by a duck dabbling its bill in the ooze.
Add: ˈscuttering ppl. a.
1929W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 96 Spoade was in the middle of them like a terrapin in a street full of scuttering dead leaves. 1983Listener 20 Jan. 36/2 The more dramatic start of the First—still subdued, but with scuttering strings underneath—is tense and dramatic. |