| 释义 |
▪ I. † chore, chor, n.1 Obs.|kɔə(r)|
(corruptly in 5 corde.)
[ad. L. chor-us (see chorus), at different times, and app. independently, viz. in OE., ME. (in Wyclif and Caxton), and prob. again in 16th c.]
1. The choir or chancel of a church; = choir 3.
a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1083 Þa Frencisce men bræcen þone chor. a1100Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 326/37 Chorus, chor. a1200Ibid. 546/43. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 158/4 The quere or chore of the lady chapel. 1638R. Brathwait Barnabee's Jrnl. iv, From Campe, chore, cottage, carpet.
2. A dance, or company of dancers [L. chorus].
1382Wyclif Judg. xi. 34 With tymbrys and choris [cum tympanis et choris]. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 58/3 Alle the wymen folowed her with tympanes and cordes [Exod. xv. 20]. Ibid. 66/2 The wymen camen out..syngyng wyth choris and tympanes. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 28, I would Essex Ladies would lead the Chore.
3. A band, company, ‘crew’; = choir 6.
1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 108 Not for Momus or his insensate chore. a1637B. Jonson Underwoods (ed. Bell) 197, I number these as being of the chore of contumely. 1760C. Johnston Chrystal (1767) III. 172 An affair that has given our chore the deepest wound we have ever received.
4. A choir of singers; = choir 2, 4.
1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 95 The whole Chore of Heaven..rejoycing at the conversion of a sinner. 1680Baxter Answ. Stillingfl. xxxiv. 38 Their Vestments, Organs, Chore, mode of Singing.
▪ II. chore, n.2|tʃɔə(r)|
[Phonetic variant of char, chare n.1]
1. ‘A small piece of domestic work, a little job, a char’ (Bartlett Dict. Amer.); see chare n.1 5. Formerly dial. and U.S., but more recently used colloq. of a piece of (time-consuming) drudgery.
1746Exmoor Scolding Gloss., Chuer, a chare, a Jobb of work. 1751J. MacSparran Letter Bk. 16 Sept. (1899) 56 He sent with Peter his black Boy Calais to do chores for a few Days. 1758J. Adams Wks. (1850) II. 37 Chores, chat, tobacco, tea, steal away time. 1789Webster Diss. Eng. Lang. 112 Chore..is an English word..but in America, it is perhaps confined to New England. It signifies small domestic jobs of work, and its place cannot be supplied by any other single word in the language. 1820J. Flint Lett. Amer. xxi. 264 These I must call Americanisms.. Chores..little, odd, detached, or miscellaneous pieces of business. 1838Emerson Lit. Ethics Wks. (Bohn) II. 214 Let us live in corners, and do chores. 1841–4― Ess. Art I. 152 They despatch the day's weary chores. 1865Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys 120 After sundown, when the chores were through. 1870Emerson Society & Solitude 24 Now that is the wisdom of a man..to hitch his waggon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods themselves. 1881Scribner's Mag. Mar. 704 To procure and cut up bait and do other like chores. 1881I. of Wight Gloss., Chur. 1882W. Worcestersh. Gloss., ‘When thee'st done up all the chores, thee canst go out of thee's a mind.’ 1883Hampsh. Gloss., Choor. 1886Barnes Dorset Gloss., Choor. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Chore, a job; a piece of business, or work. Hence chore-woman, chore-work. 1926Galsworthy Silver Spoon ii. vi. 155 Two of us do the cooking; one the accounts; and the rest washing, mending, games, singing, dancing and general chores. 1934J. C. Powys Autobiogr. xii. 634, I did every mortal thing that had to be done, in the way of what Americans call ‘chores’, both outside and inside the house. 1958Economist 8 Feb. 470/1 Various improvements [of House of Commons procedure] were discussed last week, many of them centring upon the idea of making voting less of a chore. Ibid. 15 Feb. 568/1 The Ministry [of Education] hopes to free the teachers from some of their chores. 1959Times 31 Dec. 5/6 It was by no means a great game—it had probably become by now a chore.
2. Comb. as chore-girl, chore-man, chore-woman, chore-work; chore-boy N. Amer., a boy employed in doing odd jobs.
18..Whittier Poems, Telling the Bees x, Went drearily singing the chore-girl small, Draping each hive with a shred of black. 1848Knickerbocker Sept. XXXII. 230, I afterwards saw Betty,..laughing with the gardener and ‘chore-boy’. 1874Mrs. Whitney We Girls vi. 134 William, the chore-man, had killed them on Saturday. 1901Westm. Gaz. 18 July 10/1 The Secretary of the Treasury began life as a bank clerk,..the Secretary of the Navy as a ‘chore-boy’ on a farm. 1902S. E. White Blazed Trail xxviii. 187 You would have to be chore-boy in a lumber camp. 1957Fish & Game (Calgary) 30 Aug. 11/2 [He] accompanies him on fishing trips and..has gradually slipped into the role of camp-cook and chore-boy.
Hence chore v. intr., to do ‘chores’.
1746Exmoor Scolding l. 208 Tha wut net break the Cantle⁓bone..wi' chuering. 1788J. May Jrnl. & Lett. (1873) 88 Two [hands] playing the whipsaw, and the rest choring in the woods. 1839‘Mrs. M. Clavers’ New Home xiv. 87, I was obliged to employ Mrs. Jennings to ‘chore round’, to borrow her own expression. 1874Mrs. Whitney We Girls vi. 127 The man..who ‘chored’ for us. 1883Hampsh. Gloss., Choor, char, to do household work in the absence of a domestic servant. 1885W. M. Thayer Gen. Grant v. (1887) 63 Farming, choring..was preferable to tanning leather. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Gloss., Chore, chory. Hence chorer, choring.
▪ III. chore
obs. f. choree, core. |