| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈbusy, n.1 Obs.
[OE. bisᵹu, bysᵹu str. fem. abstr., f. bisiᵹ busy a.; also bisiᵹ, bysiᵹ, neut. of the adj. used as n. (only in pl. bisᵹu).]
Occupation, business; state of being actively employed.
a1000Proem to ælfred's Boeth., Ða bisᵹu us sint swiþe earfoþrime [and see busy v.1 1]. a1400Morte Arth. 3631 The bolde kynge es in a barge and a-bowtte rowes, Alle bare-hevvede for besye. a1400Octouian 340 Nother of hem myght fram other ascape, For besy of fyght.
▪ II. busy, n.2 slang.|ˈbɪzɪ|
[f. busy a.]
A detective.
1904Daily Chron. 17 Sept. 6/6 We had better slide; he looks like a ‘busy’. 1928Sunday Dispatch 2 Sept. 3/1 A porter..replied: ‘Not to-night, sir... You see, we've had the ‘blow’ that the ‘Busies’ are coming.’ 1948M. Allingham More Work Undertaker (1949) xiv. 179, I don't know 'ow long we've got before the busies come trampin' in.
▪ III. busy, a.|ˈbɪzɪ|
Compared busier, -iest. Forms: 1 bysiᵹ, 3 biseȝ, bese, busi, 3–4 bisi, bise, 3–6 besy, bisie, 4 bisaie, bysi(e, bisye, 4–5 bysy, bessy, bissy, (buysy), 4–6 bisy, besye, 5 besie, 5–8 busie, 6 busye, buisie, 7–8 buisy, 8 Sc. bizzie, -y, 5– busy.
[OE. bisiᵹ, later bysiᵹ, = ODu. bezich (mod.Du. bezig), LG. besig; no cognate words are known in any other Teut. or Aryan lang. The ME. typical form was bisi, bisy, bysy: the form busi (with ü = OE. y) occurs in the later text of Layamon, but otherwise the u form is not found before the 15th c.: its prevalence in modern spelling, while the pronunciation is with i, as in ME., is difficult to account for.]
1. a. Occupied with constant attention; actively engaged; doing something that engrosses the attention. Said of persons; also of the mind, the hands, a mental faculty, or the like. (Rare in attrib. use.) to get busy: to become active; to begin to act (colloq. (orig. U.S.)).
In the earlier examples (esp. those under b and d) this sense is often not to be distinguished from that of ‘careful, eager, anxious’. The latter notion has now disappeared, though a trace of it is found in Johnson's definition, ‘employed with earnestness’, which does not quite agree with the present usage.
a1225Ancr. R. 182 So þe sicnesse is more, se þe gold⁓smið is biseȝure. c1300K. Alis. 3906 Whan he Alisaunder besy seoth. c1400Destr. Troy 6047 Bise was the buerne all the bare night. 1570Levins Manip. 108 Busie, satagens, intentus. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 81 She is busie, and she cannot come. 1611Bible 1 Kings xx. 40 As thy seruant was busie here and there. 1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 74 You are as busie as a bee. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 201 ⁋12 Time slips..away, while he is either idle or busy. 1802Southey Thalaba iv. xiv, The youth, whose busy mind Dwelt on Lobabu's..words. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. xii. (1872) 178 A People energetically busy; heaving, struggling, all shoulders at the wheel. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. i. 170 His children knew him as a continually busy, useful man of the world. a1888Mod. Don't interrupt me, I'm busy. 1904Louisville Courier-Jrnl. 27 Sept. 3 It was necessary to call upon the sergeant-at-arms... When that functionary got busy there came near being a riot. 1906‘O. Henry’ Four Million 121 ‘Ikey,’ said he,..‘get busy with your ear. It's drugs for me if you've got the line I need.’
b. Const. about, † after, † of, on, upon, over, with (an object of attention).
a1000Sal. & Sat. (Gr.) 61 Bysiᵹ æfter bocum. a1225Ancr. R. 142 Bisi abuten gostliche biȝete. c1340Cursor M. 192 (App. iii. Laud MS.) Of martha also that buysy [v.r. bysy, bisy, bessy] was abowte cryst þo. c1380Wyclif Rule St. Francis ii. (1880) 40 Þat þei be not bisi of here temporal goodis. 1599Shakes. Much Ado i. ii. 3 He is verie busie about it. 1712Addison Spect. No. 329 ⁋1 He had been very busy..upon Baker's Chronicle. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xvi. 285 He was so busy about his father. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. ii. (1865) 15 Busy as a moth over some rotten archive. 1876Green Short Hist. v. §3 (1882) 231 Busy with the cares of political office.
c. Const. in (an employment). Often with vbl. n.; in which construction the prep. is now commonly omitted, so that the vbl. n. becomes indistinguishable from the pr. pple.
a1225Ancr. R. 84 Þus ha beoð bisie i þisse fule mester. a1500Knt. & Wife (Halliw.) Be bessy in Godis servys. 1663Sir C. Lyttelton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 30, I am soe buisy..in the dispatch of a fleete. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 430 Busie in providing a suitable entertainment. 1702Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i. 235 So busie were my faculties in thought. 1713Addison Guardian No. 112 ⁋1 Busy in finding out the art of flying. Mod. I found him busy packing his trunk.
†d. Const. for. Also with inf. Obs.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 5489 Þe devels..Þat to tempte men..ay er bysy. c1380Wyclif Serm. xv. Sel. Wks. I. 36 Men..shulden be bisye for blisse. c1440Gesta Rom. (1879) 245 Late vs be euer besye to plese god. 1533More Answ. Poyson. Bk. Wks. (1557) 1036/1 The leche that..sytteth by the sicke man busye aboute to cure hym. 1629S'hertogenbosh 21 The English were busie to fill the ditch. 1726Life of Penn in Wks. I. 138 Busie for Forms.
†e. euphemistic. to be busy with: to have to do with (sexually). Obs.
1612Pasquil's Night-cap (N.) Thou hast beene too busy with a man, And art with child. 1687Dryden Hind & P. iii. xiii. 7 The Wolf has been too busie in your bed. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i, You would have the Impudence to Sup, and be busy with her.
2. a. Said of things; fig. of passions, etc.
a1000Byrhtnoth (Gr.) 110 Boᵹan wæron bysiᵹe. c1750Shenstone Ruin'd Ab. 15 Birds..With busy pinion skim the..wave. 1813Scott Rokeby i. iii, Grief was busy in his breast. 1827Carlyle Transl., Libussa (1874) 63 The screeching of the busy saw. 1855H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iv. (1878) 143 Time is busy in the work of change. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. vii. 104 For many days rumour was busy. 1876Green Short Hist. vi. §3 (1882) 290 Busy as was Caxton's printing-press.
b. Of a telephone line: engaged; busy tone: the signal indicating that a line is engaged.
1893Keenan & Riley Transmitted Word iv. 69 In this way..the operator..knows if the line is ‘busy’. 1894Jrnl. Electr. Engin. XXIII. 58 The operator has rarely to say, ‘Wire engaged’, or ‘Busy’, which is the common expression. Ibid. 63 False busy signals were frequently received. Now a third wire and an automatic restoring indicator has made the busy test reliable. 1914W. Atkins Princ. Automatic Teleph. 27 If all the lines are engaged the wipers will rotate to this busy-tone circuit. 1921Conquest II. 127/2 The ‘busy tone’ is sent back to the calling subscriber if the line he wants is busy.
†3. Occupied to the full or to the limit of one's powers: in phrase to be busy to do (a thing): to be fully occupied with it alone, to have enough to do to... Obs. (Cf. albysi.)
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1584 Swich strif..Bitwixe Venus..And Mars..That Iuppiter was bisy it to stente. 1387Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. IV. 453 Þe Est ȝate..was so hevy of sound bras þat twenty men were besy i-now for to tende it. c1400Destr. Troy 10388 Þe kyng..harmyt hym sore, Þat bisi was þe buerne to bide in his sadill.
4. a. Constantly or habitually occupied; full of business, always employed. Also of things: Constantly in motion or activity.
c1205Lay. 2837 He wes a swiðe bisi [1275 busi] mon. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 633 (Harl. MS. 7334) The busy [v.r. bisy, besye, besy, bysy, besi] larke, messager of daye. 1548Latimer Serm. Ploughers (Arb.) 38 No Lordelie loyterer..but a busie ploughe man. 1628Earle Microcosm. (Arb.) 34 The busie mans recreation, the idle mans businesse. 1642T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xv. 42 A busie-doer in setting up stakes for the burning of poore Martyrs. 1702Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i. 220 The Etherial Energy That busie restless Principle. 1814Scott Wav. I. viii. 102 Curiosity, the busiest passion of the idle. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii. (1871) 10 A most busy brain. Mod. How can so busy a man find time for visiting?
†b. Devoted to business; diligent, active, industrious. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace iii. 390 He in wer was besy, wycht and wyss. c1500Lancelot 2449 He was bissy and was deligent.
5. In bad sense: Active in what does not concern one; prying, inquisitive, meddlesome, officious; restless, fussy, importunate. Cf. busybody.
c1400Mandeville xxix. 295 Thei asked him [Alisandre], whi he was so proud and so fierce and so besy. c1475Lerne or be L. 2 in Babees Bk. (1868) 9 To Bolde, ne to Besy, ne Bourde nat to large. 1530Palsgr. 306/1 Besy, malapert or medlyng in maters, entremetteux. 1580Baret Alv. B 1585 A Busie man: a medler in all matters. 1679Trials Green, etc. for Murder of Sir E. Godfrey 14 He was a busie man, and..would do a great deal of mischief. 1740–61Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1862) III. 299 That little busy, mischievous fiend, jealousy. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 55 A busy and inquisitorial tyranny.
†6.
a. Solicitous, anxious, uneasy; careful, attentive (see note under 1). Of desires, prayers, etc.: Earnest, eager, importunate. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 362 Bissy study and contemplacyon. c1391Chaucer Astrol. Prol., Thy bisi preyere..to lerne the tretis of the astrelabie. 1406Hoccleve Misrule 25 My grief and bisy smert. 1413Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle iv. xxiv. 70 Besy entendement to that that she techeth. 1483Cath. Angl. 29/1 To make besy, solicitare.
†b. phr. to do one's busy pain (diligence, cure): to exert oneself diligently, to do what one can. Obs. Cf. business 8.
c1387Chaucer Truth 108 Do your bysy peyne To wasshe away our cloudeful offense. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1868) 199 My copy..whiche to drawe out [I] haue do my besy diligence. 1502Arnolde Chron. (1811) 238 This lytil yle..For to repayre, do ay thy besy cure.
7. Of actions, employments, conditions, etc.: Energetically carried on; pursued with vigour; active; that keeps one constantly occupied.
1548Latimer Serm. Ploughers (Arb.) 24 Right prelatynge is busye labourynge. 1718Pope Iliad xvi. 778 On every side the busy combat grows. 1815L. Hunt Notes on Feast of Poets 33 Engaged in the busier pursuits. 1837H. Martineau Soc. in Amer. II. 338 The busiest..concerns of life. a1875Kingsley Lit. & Gen. Ess. xii. (1880) 353 Here and there a stray gleam of sunlight..awoke into busy life the denizens of the water. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 143 A busy trade in timber.
†8.
a. Of things: Involving much work or trouble; elaborate, intricate, ‘curious.’ Obs.
1441Lett. patent Hen. VI re Eton Coll. in Liber Cantabrig. (1855) 390 Curious works of entayle and busie mouldings. 1536J. Husce in Lisle Papers XII. 53 It [cushion to be worked] shall be very busy because of diversity of colours. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 230 b, Alexander perceiuyng the [Gordian] knotte to bee ouer buisie to bee vn⁓dooen with his handes. Ibid. 51 b, Buisie and sumptuous buildynges. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 332 The manner of consecrating them, is far more large and busie. 1615Crooke Body of Man 925 The History of the Bones is a busie piece of Worke.
b. Of ornamentation: full of detail. Of a picture, photograph, etc.: having much or excessive background detail.
1903Burlington Mag. III. 86/1 The decoration, in dealers' language, being too ‘busy’ for broad effects. 1909Athenæum 1 May 535/3 His pictures..look a little ‘busy’, and ask to be displayed..with..reasonable relief of bare space. 1909Mrs. H. Ward Daphne v. 99 The ceilings spoilt, the decorations ‘busy’, pretentious, overdone.
9. Of times and places: Full of business, stir, or activity.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 26 For thy Bees a quiet Station find..And plant..Wild Olive Trees..before the busie Shop. 1814Byron Lara i. i, Bright faces in the busy hall. 1832Macaulay Armada 36 That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day. 1871Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 215 The busy world of men.
10. That indicates activity or business.
1632Milton Allegro 118 The busy hum of men. 1702Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i. 299 Each busie face we meet. 1716Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. i. 8 People, with..busy faces. Mod. We were surprised at the busy aspect of the village.
11. Comb., as busy-brained, busy-fingered, busy-headed, busy-tongued, adjs. (often in unfavourable sense). Also † busy-head = busybody; busy-idle a., busily employed about trifles (so busy idleness); busy-idler, a person so employed; busy Lizzie, any of various house plants of the family Balsamaceæ, Impatiens sultani or I. holstii or hybrids of these two species.
1572J. Maitland Agst. Sklanderous Toungs, Gif *bissie-branit bodeis yow bakbyte. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 658/2 If wee be more busie brained then we shoulde be.
a1577Sir T. Smith Commonw. Eng. (1633) 217 For what will not *busie-heads and lovers of trouble..invent? 1603Davies Microcosm. 57 (D.) Many a busie-head..Put in their heads how they may compasse crownes.
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 60 These *busie heded astronomers, and curious serching astrologers. 1633Costlie Whore iv. ii. in Bullen O. Plays IV, A plague upon this busie-headed rabble!
1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xx. (1865) 159 These *busy-idle diversions. 1880Bertha Thomas Violin-Player I. ii. 45 He amused himself in carving wooden figures..and other busy-idle ways.
1822T. Mitchell Aristoph. II. 18 A sort of ennuyé, triste, pitiable *busy-idler.
1956X. Field House Plants 79 Impatiens..gathered nicknames, and among them were Patient Lucy, Patience Plant or just *Busy Lizzie. 1970Woman's Own 21 Mar. 23/1 The table where the variegated busy lizzie fought for living-space with the telephone.
1878R. B. Smith Carthage 255 *Busy-tongued rumour passed from mouth to mouth.
▪ IV. busy, v.|ˈbɪzɪ|
Forms: 1 bysᵹian, bisᵹian, bysiᵹan, 4 besien, bisien, bisie, bysi, bisy, 4–6 besy, 5 besye, 5–6 busye, 5–7 busie, 6 bussy, bysye, 5– busy.
[OE. bisᵹian, bysᵹian, f. bisiᵹ busy a.]
1. trans. To employ with constant attention; to engage or occupy assiduously; to keep busy (persons, employments, or objects of attention).
a1000Proem to ælfred's Boeth., For þæm..maniᵹfealdum weoruldbisᵹum þe hine..bisᵹodan. 1530Palsgr. 451/2, I besy, I set aworke or I put in busynesse. Ibid. 455/2, I bysye my body. 1587Golding De Mornay i. 7 Thou..busiest all thy wits about it. a1698Temple Ess. Poetry Wks. 1731 I. 241 Before the Discourses..of Philosophers began to busy..the Grecian Wits. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 95 To busy my head and my hands to the loss of my time. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xl. 5 Wouldst thou busy the breath of half the people?
b. refl. (The most usual construction.) Const. inf. (obs.), with, in, about.
c1000O.E. Hom. (Thorpe) II. 406 (Bosw.) Se man biþ heriᵹendlic, ðe mid godum weorcum hine sylfne bysᵹaþ. c1340Cursor M. 23048 (Trin.) Þei..bisieden hem to pleisen hym. c1400Destr. Troy 9306 Achilles..to bryng hit aboute besit hym sore. 1530Palsgr. 895 My self..whiche..have besyed me..to teche..many..princes and princesses. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. ii. §97 He busied himself in Toyes and Trifles. 1736Butler Anal. ii. vii. 353 To how little purpose those persons busy themselves. 1851Helps Comp. Solit. iii. (1874) 46 He busied himself about many worldly things. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. ii. 33 Petersen began..to busy himself with his wardrobe. 1876Green Short Hist. ii. §5 (1882) 79 The King..busied himself in the erection of numerous castles. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 64 Busy thee for ill or good.
c. in pass. Const. as in b.
c1000Colloq. Monast. (Thorpe) 18 (Bosw.) Ic eom bysᵹod on sange. 1526Pilgr. Perf. W. de W. (1531) 58 Be thou neuer more than nedeth..busyed or troubled in the defautes or offences of other. 1623Bingham Xenophon 85 That the enemie might be busied on all sides. 1758Johnson Idler No. 4 ⁋7 Every tongue is busied in solicitation. 1868E. Edwards Ralegh I. xviii. 361 Ralegh was busied..with his official duties.
d. trans. To occupy (time) fully. rare.
1629Ford Lover's Mel. i. i. (1811) 125 Him..whose study Had busied many hours. 1802W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. I. 431 Two elections..which busied time and idea.
†2. To trouble the body (only in OE.) or mind; to afflict, worry, disturb, perplex. Obs.
a1000Metr. Boeth. xxii. 30 (Gr.) Þæs lichoman leahtras and hefiᵹnes..oft bysiᵹen monna modsefan. c1000Whale (Gr.) 51 Hine hungor bysᵹaþ. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 82 Gif se lichoma hwær mid hefiᵹlicre hæto sy gebysᵹod. c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 268, & busyez þe aboute a raysoun bref. c1380Wyclif Serm. v. Sel. Wks. I. 13 It is no nede to bisie us what hiȝt Tobies hound. 1591Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 61 That were to busie men with doubts.
†b. To disturb, agitate (a material object). Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. (1868) 8 The causes whennes þe sounyng wyndes..bisien þe smoþe water of the see.
3. intr. (? for refl.). To be busy, occupy oneself, take trouble (now rare).
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1066 Naf I now to busy, bot bare þre dayez. 1382Wyclif Luke x. 40 Martha bisyede aboute moche seruyce. c1450Merlin xiii. (1877) 201 Oon part bisied for the rescew. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 132 Chaos, whereon I bussid over longe. 1582Batman Barth. De P.R. 201 b/2 Euery part [of the earth]..busieth with his owne weight to come to the middle of y⊇ earth. 1878Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. III. xiv. 218 She..fell to busying about my pillows. |