| 释义 |
calliope U.S.|kəˈlaɪəpiː|
[Gr. καλλιόπη (beautiful-voiced), the ninth of the Muses, presiding over eloquence and heroic poetry.]
1. An instrument consisting of a series of steam-whistles toned to produce musical notes, played by a keyboard like that of an organ.
1858J. Cook Let. 19 Sept. (1946) 45 On board the Armenia..is a Calliope, or an instrument resembling an organ & played in connection with the engine. 1863Russell Diary India I. 269 The whistle sounds, and the calliope shrieks out ‘Dixie’ incessantly. 1908E. C. Booth Cliff End v. 35 The calliope at the Crystal Palace would just about begin to realise our musical aspirations—with steam drum attachment. 1923V. Lindsay Coll. Poems 118 Proud men..Call me the ‘Calliope’... I am the Gutter Dream, Tune-maker, born of steam... I am the Kallyope. 1955R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (ed. 3) v. 100 A calliope outside the circus tent.
2. attrib. calliope hummingbird, a hummingbird, Stellula calliope, of the Western United States and Mexico. U.S.
1878U.S. Nat. Museum Proc. I. 426 Stellula calliope.—Calliope Humming-bird. 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 28 There was a December–May marriage, conducted with all the calm and sobriety of a calliope concert.
Hence caˈlliopeist, one who plays the calliope.
1932Hemingway Death in Afternoon xiii. 150 An organist..or a calliopeist. |