| 释义 |
▪ I. caustic, a. and n.|ˈkɔːstɪk, ˈkɒstɪk|
[ad. L. caustic-us a. Gr. καυστικός capable of burning, caustic, f. καυστ-ός burnt, burnable, f. και- (future καυσ-) to burn. Cf. F. caustique.]
A. adj.
1. a. Burning, corrosive, destructive of organic tissue.
1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 229 Albeit the water of the sea haue a certeyne caustike qualitie ageynst poyson. 1563T. Gale Antidot. i. vii. 5 Causticke medicynes which doe remoue, and take away fylthines in vlcers. 1605Timme Quersit. i. vi. 25 Causticke and burning simples. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. I. s.v. Gourdy legs, This Stone..from its..caustick or burning Quality, alone destroys Warts. 1863–72Watts Chem. Dict. I. 818 In the old language of surgery, caustics were divided into the actual, such as red-hot iron and moxa, and the potential, such as strong alkalis, acids, nitrate of silver.
b. caustic bougie: a bougie armed with a piece of caustic.
1800Med. Jrnl. III. 480 Caustic bougies, applied to the urethra under pretence of removing strictures. 1805Ibid. XIV. 474 The superiority of the caustic over the common bougie.
c. Chem. caustic alkali: a name given to the hydrates of potassium and sodium, called caustic potash (KHO) and caustic soda (NaHO) respectively; caustic volatile alkali or caustic ammonia, ammonia as a gas or in solution; caustic lime, quick lime (CaO).
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 143 These flies, thus dried..yield a great deal of volatile caustic-salt. 1791Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. v. 80 Caustic alkali tinges the infusion of galls of a dark red. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 564 Take..water of caustic kali, nine fluid ounces. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 21 Lime applied in its Caustic state acquires its hardness and durability, by absorbing the aerial acid. 1845Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 102 Add solution of caustic ammonia. 1869Roscoe Elem. Chem. 200 Potassium hydroxide or Caustic potash..is a white substance soluble in half its weight of water, and acts as a powerful cautery, destroying the skin. 1876Harley Mat. Med. 147 Caustic Soda.
d. gen. Burning. (rare.)
1863Possibil. Creation 148 At the tops of mountains..the sun's rays are capable of producing very caustic results.
e. caustic bush, plant, vine, Australian names for Sarcostemma australe, a plant poisonous to cattle and sheep; caustic creeper, weed, Australian names for Euphorbia drummondii, the milky juice of which is used by the natives as a remedy for various diseases, but which is poisonous to sheep.
1887Bailey & Gordon Plants reputed Poisonous 43 Sarcostemma Australe. Known as ‘Caustic plant’ or ‘Caustic vine’ in Queensland. Ibid. 79 Euphorbia Drummondii, Caustic Creeper... This weed is unquestionably poisonous to sheep. 1889J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants 127 Euphorbia Drummondii... Called ‘Caustic Creeper’ in Queensland. Called ‘Milk Plant’ and ‘Pox Plant’ about Bourke. This weed is unquestionably poisonous to sheep. 1922Jrnl. Proc. R. Soc. N.S.W. LVI. 183 This plant [sc. Sarcostemma australe], which occurs in all the Australian States except Victoria and Tasmania, is known as ‘Caustic Vine’, or ‘Caustic Plant’. 1926J. M. Black Flora S. Austral. iii. 463 S[arcostemma] australe, R. Br. Milk Bush; Tableland Caustic Bush. 1954W. E. Blackall W. Austral. Wildflowers 263 E[uphorbia] Drummondii. Caustic-weed.
2. fig. That makes the mind to smart: said of language, wit, humour, and, by extension, of persons; sharp, bitter, cutting, biting, sarcastic.
[Not in Johnson 1755.]1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (L.) And mirth he has a particular knack in extracting from his guests, let their humour be never so caustic or refractory. 1818Scott Rob Roy iv, His shrewd, caustic, and somewhat satirical remarks. 1842Macaulay Fredk. Gt., Ess. (1877) 677 Those who smarted under his caustic jokes. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. ii. xviii. 147 Well, ma, I think you are more caustic than Amy.
3. Math. Epithet of a curved surface formed by the ultimate intersection of luminous rays proceeding from a single point and reflected or refracted from a curved surface; also of the curve formed by a plane section of a caustic surface. A caustic by reflexion is called a catacaustic, that by refraction a diacaustic. So caustic line, surface.[So called because the intensity of the light, and consequently of the heat, is in general greater at a point on this surface than at neighbouring points not on it, and at special points may become sufficiently intense to initiate combustion in a body there placed. The focus of a concave mirror is the cusp of its caustic for incident parallel rays.] 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Caustic curve, in the higher geometry, a curve formed by the concourse or coincidence of the rays of light reflected or refracted from some other curve. 1869Tyndall Notes on Light §101 The interior surface of a common drinking-glass is a curved reflector. Let the glass be nearly filled with milk, and a lighted candle placed beside it, a caustic curve will be drawn on the surface of the milk. Ibid. §166 Spherical lenses have their caustic curves and surfaces formed by the intersection of the refracted rays.
B. n.
1. a. Med. A substance which burns and destroys living tissue when brought in contact with it. common caustic or lunar caustic: nitrate of silver prepared in sticks for surgical use.
1582J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. i. vii. 8 Costicke..beeyng laid on the sore doeth mortefie it. c1600B. Jonson Elegy Lady Pawlet (R.) Put Your hottest causticks to, burne, lance, or cut. 1722De Foe Plague (1884) 111 They burnt them with Causticks. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (L.) He applied caustic to the wart. 1800Med. Jrnl. III. 290 The application of lunar caustic to strictures. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight v. 52 Quick-lime acts as a powerful caustic.
b. fig.
1635Austin Medit. 197 With his Causticks of Repentance, he charitably burnt out, and purged the corruptions of Mens consciences. 1817Scott Wav. xx, Pride..applies its caustic as an useful though severe remedy. 1832L. Hunt Bacchus in Tusc. 221, I should like to see a snake..fasten with all his teeth and caustic upon that sordid villain.
2. Math. = caustic curveor surface: cf. A. 3.
1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., Every curve has its twofold caustic. 1743Phil. Trans. XLII. 343 In the next place, the Caustics, by Reflexion and Refraction, are determined. 1869Tyndall Notes on Light §100 When a large fraction of the spherical surface is employed as a mirror, the rays are not all collected to a point; their intersections..form a luminous surface..called a caustic (German, Brennfläche).
▪ II. caustic, v.|ˈkɔːstɪk|
[f. caustic n.]
trans. To treat with a caustic.
1852Mrs. Gaskell Let. 1 Oct. (1966) 852 My right arm is very bad & Mr. Mellor comes to see it & caustics it. 1870Lady Amberley Diary 22 Nov. in Amberley Papers (1937) II. xiii. 382 My throat was very bad to-day, Mr. Audland causticed it & made me stay in bed. 1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere xii, I causticked all the diphtheritic throats..with my own hand. |