| 释义 |
showcase, n. (a.)
[f. show n.1 + case n.2]
1. A glass case for exhibiting delicate or valuable articles in a shop or museum.
1835F. Lieber Stranger in Amer. II. ii. 64, I..found there..all the companions of my earliest youth, the show⁓cases..with their old Nuremberg prints. 1879Print. Trades Jrnl. xxviii. 12 Put up in inexpensive little show-cases. 1897R. M. Stuart In Simpkinsville 121 Old Dr. Jenkins stood behind the showcase in his drug-store. 1935D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night vi. 124 What a blessing I hadn't put the Folio Chaucer and the other valuables in the show-cases. 1952P. Wentworth Brading Collection xii. 69 Round the sides there were glass-topped show⁓cases. 1970J. S. Hardman tr. R. Boulanger's Turkey 201 In the showcases against the wall..are various glass objects.
2. fig. A place or medium for presenting (esp. attractively) to general attention (freq. in Theatr. contexts). Chiefly U.S.
1937‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! ii. iii. 131 Scamnum is..simply a Crispin show-case, dukedom and all. 1958D. Ewen Compl. Bk. Amer. Musical Theater 79 It [sc. Walk a little Faster]..deserves to be remembered if only because it was the showcase for..Duke's most popular song, ‘April in Paris’. 1967N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable i. 7 Its park has been turned into a landscaped garden which is a showcase for the bulb industry. 1976M. Butterworth Festival xi. 173 The entertainment world fell over itself to get into this, the biggest ‘showcase’ on earth. 1978S. Brill Teamsters x. 364 Gibbons' local was becoming a showcase of progressive unionism.
3. attrib. or as adj. Freq. fig.
1903A. H. Lewis Boss 189 He's no show-case proposition!.. To look at him folks might take him for a fool. 1934Architect. Record Sept. 189 Show case height for standard selling. 1937‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! ii. iii. 131 The Duke has a show-case role. He's an Elder Statesman. 1955Times 10 May 3/5 The London Philharmonic Orchestra has broken out for the summer season with some showcase programmes. 1975B. Garfield Death Sentence (1976) vi. 36 The First Ward [of Chicago]..included the showcase hoop.
Hence as v. trans. (orig. U.S.), to place in or as in a showcase (chiefly fig.).
1945H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. v. 387 A few of its [sc. Variety's] characteristic inventions will suffice: to ash-can, to angel, to showcase [etc.]. 1949Jrnl. (Baltimore) 20 July 2/1 They showcase new acts, who want to be on TV. 1959Spectator 14 Aug. 192/1 It [sc. the Festival Ballet] has show-cased any number of notable performers. 1961Times 4 Feb. 11/5 An album which introduces a new verb to the English language. It has been recorded ‘to showcase’ 10 different bands at a Jazz Festival in Hi-Fi. 1982Time Out 16 July 39/5 The film..showcases both sides of Young's music. |