| 释义 |
▪ I. Siamese, a. and n.|saɪəˈmiːz|
[f. the name of the country Siam (now Thailand) + -ese. Cf. F. Siamois.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of or pertaining to Siam or its inhabitants; also in the specific names of animals or birds.
1693A. P. tr. De la Loubère's Hist. Rel. Siam 8 The Siamese History is full of Fables. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Aloes, The Siamese Embassadors. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 494/1 From this Shanscrit are derived the sacred characters of Thibet,.. the Singalese, Siamese, Maharatan,..&c. 1827Griffith tr. Cuvier III. 406 The Siamese Pig is small, long bodied, very low on the limbs. 1876Nature XIV. 343/2 The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens..include..a Siamese Pheasant (Euplocamus prælatus). 1880Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 265 A species..is called the Siamese Muggar, and has a close resemblance to the Marsh Crocodile of India.
b. Siamese cat, a lightly built shorthaired cat belonging to a breed originally found in Thailand, distinguished by buff-coloured fur with points of brown, blue, or other colours, and a narrow head with large ears and slanting blue eyes; so Siamese kitten.
1871Illustr. London News 22 July 63/2 It [sc. the variety class at the Crystal Palace cat show] contained..a singular Siamese cat, coloured precisely like a black⁓faced pug-dog. 1889H. Weir Our Cats 73 Siamese Cat. Among the beautiful varieties of the domestic cat brought into notice by cat shows, none deserve more attention than ‘The Royal Cat of Siam’. 1942Siamese kitten [see pet-shop s.v. pet n.1 3 d]. 1958Listener 18 Sept. 410/1 There are many legends and stories about the origin of Siamese cats but few facts. 1972Ing & Pond Champion Cats of World 109 The Siamese Cat Club was founded in 1901.
c. Siamese fighter, Siamese fighting fish, a brightly coloured, often red, tropical fish, Betta splendens, native to Malaysia and Thailand, and distinguished by enlarged fins and tail.
1929W. T. Innes Goldfish Varieties (ed. 11) 256 (caption) Betta splendens, Cambodia variety, or Veiltail Siamese Albino Fighting Fish. 1968R. Clapperton No News on Monday i. 9 Fifty bucks' worth of aquarium: two purple Siamese fighters hovering motionless, separated by glass. 1971Ceylon Observer (Mag. ed.) 19 Sept. 2/6 (Advt.), Goldfish..Siamese Fighters. 1977D. J. Coffey Encycl. Aquarium Fish 67/1 Siamese Fighting-fish are aggressive.
2. a. Siamese twins, two male natives of Siam, Chang and Eng (1811–1874), who were united by a tubular band in the region of the waist. Hence gen., any pair of twins physically united by their tissues; sing. one of a pair of such twins. Also attrib. (in sing.) and fig.
1829Times 25 Nov. 2/6 The Siamese United Twins. Ibid. 26 Nov. 2/3 It is announced..in the Paris papers of Monday, that the Sardinian girl with two heads died on the preceding day. The Siamese twins will therefore have a clear field in that capital. 1835Dickens in Evening Chron. 18 June 4 They were three long graces in drapery, with..another..the three fates with another sister—the Siamese twins multiplied by two. 1859Geo. Eliot Let. 27 Feb. (1954) III. 27 People who have been inseparable and found all their happiness in each other for five years are in a sort of Siamese-twin condition that other people are not likely to regard with tolerance or even with belief. 1879Mind IV. 331 Should the empiricists succeed in their attempt to resolve such Siamese-twin elements into habitual juxtapositions. 1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 765/2 The most intelligible form of double monstrosity, like the Siamese twins. 1883E. W. Hamilton Diary 18 Dec. (1972) II. 526 Chamberlain also spoke briefly. He passed a high eulogy on Dilke—they are the Siamese twins of politicians. 1899Daily News 15 Mar. 4/4 The death of M. Erckmann..removes the last of the Siamese twins of French fiction. 1900H. W. Smyth Gk. Melic Poets 278 Kteatos and Eurytos, the Siamese Twins of Greek mythology. 1922Joyce Ulysses 404 Heated argument..regarding the juridical and theological dilemma in the event of one Siamese twin predeceasing the other. 1926J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 235 Partial constriction [of a newt embryo] produces partial doubling or ‘Siamese twins’. 1937H. H. Newman et al. Twins xiii. 355 Conjoined twins (Siamese twins) show marked differences in height, weight, features, and intelligence. 1957Mankowicz & Haggar Encycl. Eng. Pott. & Porc. 202/1 The Kentish Siamese twins, Eliza and Mary Chalkhurst (who died in 1734 at the age of 34) were apparently made in redware. 1957E. H. Shepard Drawn from Memory ix. 172 She was a queer experiment in ship design, a sort of Siamese twin of a ship; two complete hulls joined together in the middle. She had two sets of engines and two funnels. 1961R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts iv. 106 Here on Thursdays is followed by two complete nucleuses, tied together in Siamese-twin fashion by joint possession of the introductory adjunct. 1965E. Gowers Fowler's Mod. Eng. Usage (ed. 2) 554/1 Siamese twins. This seems a suitable term for the many words which, linked in pairs by and or or, are used to convey a single meaning. Ibid. 554/2 Whenever a Siamese twin suggests itself to a writer, he should be on his guard; it may be just the phrase he wants, but it is more likely to be one of those clichés that are always lying in wait to fill a vacuum in the brain. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 245 The bitter animosity..of divorce is unknown where individuals have not become Siamese twins. 1972Miller & Keane Encycl. & Dict. Med. & Nursing 876/1 New techniques in surgery..are making it possible to separate some Siamese twins whose physical links are highly complex. 1981Birds Spring 63/1 My neighbour found Siamese twin starlings caught on some old wire... They had two legs each, but only three feet. The inner leg of each bird was joined together with one foot between them. 1981N.Y. Times Mag. 19 July 6/4 The Kennedy prose style was a product of him and his Siamese twin, Theodore Sorensen, writing freely with his free arm.
b. Twin; closely connected or similar. Also, pertaining to or characteristic of Siamese twins.
1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. xii, We must leave the ladies to themselves for a short time, in order to take another glance at the Siamese willow-wearers at Ullsford. 1851H. Melville Moby Dick II. xxx. 206 So, then, an elongated Siamese ligature [sc. monkey-rope] united us. 1857Breen Mod. Eng. Lit. 72 They toss the lord and his page in the same blanket, and then they turn them adrift in the Siamese character of ‘milord’. 1904R. Hichens Woman with Fan vi, Miss Schley's said to be like me not only in appearance but in other ways. Are we really so Siamese? 1955E. Bowen World of Love v. 87 In step, in Siamese closeness, they paced towards it. 1969N. J. Berrill Person in Womb xiii. 158 Siamese conditions meant death of mother and offspring during the agony of delivery.
c. Siamese coupling, a form of coupling used for fire-hose. Also Siamese connection.
1891Scribner's Mag. Jan. 63/2 The siamese coupling, by which the power of two or more engines may be united on one hose. 1914J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighters xxii. 322 A length of three-inch hose is attached to the pipe and strapped to the ladder with a siamese connection on the ground.
B. n.
1. A native of Siam.
1693A. P. tr. De la Loubère's Hist. Rel. Siam 6 The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 449/1 The Siamese prepare the land for tillage as soon as the earth is sufficiently moistened by the floods. 1808Leyden in Asiatic Res. X. 240 The Thay language is that which is used by the Siamese. 1842Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 238 The average height of the Siamese is 5 feet 3 inches.
2. The language of Siam.
1759Universal Hist., Mod. VII. 238 The Siamese resembles the Chinese in several respects: it consists mostly in monosyllables, and has neither declensions nor conjugations. 1808Leyden in Asiatic Res. X. 242 The T'hay language, or Siamese. 1854Latham in Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. I. 315 The Khamti language..is so like the Siamese of the capital [etc.]. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 855/1 The foreign ingredients in Siamese are principally Sanskrit.
3. A Siamese cat.
1893J. Jennings Domestic or Fancy Cats ii. 17 A pure-bred Siamese is a valuable cat. 1939T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Practical Cats 15 It was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear. 1950W. de la Mare Inward Companion 70 That crafty cat, a buff-black Siamese, Sniffing through wild wood. 1973‘E. McBain’ Let's hear it for Deaf Man iii. 37 Janik himself resembled a cross-eyed Siamese, blue eyes magnified behind bifocals..a tuft of black hair behind each ear.
4. A Siamese coupling or connection.
1914J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighting xxii. 322 Run in two lines, connect to the siamese, raise the bed ladder to the desired position and the stream is controlled from the street by guys. 1969Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. lii. 55 Siamese,..a connector joint used for reducing two lines into one line. ‘A Siamese will allow more pressure than a single line.’
▪ II. Siamese, v.|saɪəˈmiːz|
[f. prec. A. 2.]
trans. To join, unite, or couple, after the manner of the Siamese twins.
1830Fraser's Mag. I. 427 They are..Siamesed by a cord which defies the knife of the most skilful surgeon. 1834Blackw. Mag. XXXV. 510 We are Siamesed to France; we cannot cut asunder the link without hazarding blood. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 405 Three or four lines of 2½ inch hose are united or ‘Siamesed’ into one larger one.
Hence Siaˈmesed ppl. a.
1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. xi, The master of the George appeared at the head of his waiters, bearing the Siamesed repast for the two disconsolate lovers. 1914J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighting 377 For siamesed lines, an allowance was made for the loss in the siamese connection and for 20 feet of 3½-inch lead hose. 1942Potts & Harriss Fire Pumps & Hydraulics viii. 59 Where series pumping has to be resorted to it is desirable to employ ‘Siamesed’ lines, i.e. to duplicate the deliveries from the pump or pumps in the series up to the final pump. 1970B. Knox Children of Mist i. 20 The Jaguar..had twin carburetters plus a siamesed exhaust. |