| 释义 |
▪ I. silver, n. and a.|ˈsɪlvə(r)|
Forms: α. 1 siolfor (siolofr-, siolufr-), seolfor, -fur, -fer (seolfr-, seulfr-), 2–3 seoluer (seolur-, 2 seolure), 3 soluer, solure. β. 2, 5 selfer (2 selfr-), 4 selfur; 3–5 seluer (3 selur-, 4 zeluer), 4–5 selver. γ. 1 sylofr, sylfor, -fur, 2 syluer, sylure; 1 sulfer (suulfr-), 3 suelfer, 3–4 suluer. δ. 1 silofr, 3 sillferr; 2–7 siluer (2 silur-, 5 siluere, 6–7 Sc. silwer), 4– silver; 4–6 siluir, -vir (5 -uire, -uyre); 4–5 syluere (5 cyl-), 4–7 syluer (5 cyl-), 5–7 sylver (5 -fer, 6 -var); 4 syluyre, 5 -uir, 5–6 -vir; 5 sylure, -wor, 6 -uur. ε. Sc. 6 syller, 6– siller.
[Common Teut.: OE. siolfor, seolfor, etc., = OFris. selover, selver (later selvir, silver; WFris. sulver, dial. selver), OLFrank. silver (MDu. silver, selver, sulver, Du. zilver), OS. siluƀar, siloƀar (MLG. and LG. silver, sülver, sulver, etc.), OHG. sil(a)bar, silbir, etc. (MHG. and G. silber), ON. silfr (Icel. silfur, Sw. silfver; MSw. silf, self, sylf, Norw. sylv, Da. sølv), Goth. silubr. Related forms are found in the Balto-Slavic languages, as OSlav. sĭrebro, Russ. serebro, Pol. śrebro, etc., Lith. sidabras, Lett. sudrabs; as to the relationship of these and the ultimate origin of the word no definite conclusions have been established.]
I.
1. One of the precious metals (in general use ranking next to gold), characterized in a pure state by its lustrous white colour and great malleability and ductility. Chemical symbol Ag.
Various forms of the metal, pure or mixed with other substances, are distinguished by defining terms, as antimonial, bromic, horn, native, red, ruby silver; capillary, shell silver, etc. The name is also given to several natural or artificial substances resembling or imitating the real metal, as cat, German, inflammable, mock silver.
α βc825Vesp. Psalter lxv. 10 Swe mid fyre bið amearad seolfur. c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxvii. 268 Ðonne bið hit swiðe leaslice on siolofres [v.r. siolufres] hiewe. 971Blickl. Hom. 127 Nu hit is mid golde & mid seolfre ᵹefrætwod. a1175Cott. Hom. 227 Hi worhtan ham anlicnessen, sum of golde, sum of selfre. a1225Leg. Kath. 493 Þeos maumez beoð imaket of gold, & of seoluer. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 4/115 Of seluer and of gold one riche schrine heo wrouȝte. a1400N. T. (Paues) 1 Cor. iii. 12 Gold, oþer selfer, oþer precyous stones. 1418in E.E. Wills 32, vj disshes & vj Sawcers of seluer.
γ δc950Lindisf. Gosp. John p. 188 Mid suulfre ofer⁓gylded. a1000Riddles xv. 2 Nu mec wlonc þeceð ᵹeong haᵹostealdmon golde & sylfore. a1300E.E. Psalter lxv. 9 Þou fraisted vs, als siluer fraisted isse. a1340Hampole Psalter xi. 7 Imange all metalles nan is þat swetterly chymes þan syluere. c1440Promp. Parv. 77 Cyluer, argentum. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 42 A peyre of bedys of sylvir. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 Saynt Gregory..sayth that electrum is a myxture of syluer & golde myngled togyder. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 902 Deck't with Coperass, With Gold and Silver, Lead, and Mercury. 1613Dekker Strange Horse Race Wks. (Grosart) III. 327 There likewise should you behold a Mine of Siluer, ambitiously aspiring to bee as glorious Gold. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 269 The Silver here, and all over the Kingdom of Mexico, is said to be finer and richer in proportion than that of Potosi or Peru. 1738Gray Tasso 59 Sulphurous veins and liveing silver shine. 1779Mirror No. 17, A crooked piece of silver, which he, at first, mistook for a shilling. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 47 Silver..burns more readily than platinum or gold. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 359 Silver is obtained from its ores chiefly by roasting, crushing, and amalgamation with mercury.
fig.a1628Preston Breastpl. Love (1631) 187 The good⁓man..there is silver and golde in his speeches and actions, that is, they are likewise precious. 1897Rhoscomyl White Rose Arno 45 His tongue was silver and his heart was fire.
ε1575Gammer Gurton ii. i, As bright as any syller,..& straight as any pyller. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. i, With spraings like gowd, and siller cross'd with black.
†b. transf. Quicksilver. Obs.
1607J. Davies (Heref.) Summa Totalis Wks. (Grosart) I. 13/1 Siluer selfe-mouing, we call Siluer-quick.
c. With a and pl. A piece or strip of silver.
1856Orr's Circle Sci., Pract. Chem. 80 They are connected, all the zincs by one wire, and all the silvers by another wire.
d. ellipt. for silver medal (see sense 21 a below).
1960[see gold1 8 d]. 1968Guardian 22 Oct. 1/1 Major Alhusen, aged 55, won the silver in the individual event, and was only two points off taking the gold. 1979‘D. Grant’ Moscow 5000 i. 19 Notes that would help him to win an Olympic medal. Because he would have the Silver, he told himself.
2. The metal regarded as a valuable possession or medium of exchange; hence, silver coin; also (chiefly Sc.), money in general.
αc825Vesp. Psalter civ. 37 Dryhten..utalædde hie in seolfre & golde. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John p. 188 æhtu ora seulfres. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1102, Þeofas..þær inne naman mycel to gode on golde & on seolfre. c1205Lay. 15050 Ȝe.. senden after cnihtes, & ȝeuen heom soluer & gold. c1275in O.E. Misc. 89 Habbe he þe yeftes of seoluer and of golde.
βa1200Vices & Virtues 33 Ne haue ðu hope te golde ne to seluer. c1250Serm. in O.E. Misc. 188 Euer of þe purse þat seluer heo tulleþ. 1340Ayenb. 6 Aye þise heste zeneȝeþ þo þet to moche louieþ hire guod gold oþer zeluer. c1450Bk. Curtasye 745 in Babees Bk., Seluer he [the almoner] deles rydand by way. 1472Presentmts. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 24 Yf it cane be prewyd þat he his bed [= is bid] no selver tharfor.
γc897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlviii. 368 Gold & sylofr ic him sealde ᵹenoh. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 9 Nallas ᵹe aᵹneᵹe gold ne sulfer [Rushw. sylfur] ne feh on gyrdilsum iurum. 1154O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1135, Wua sua bare his byrthen gold & sylure. c1205Lay. 3570 Wenne þu wult more suluer sæche hit at me suluen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7779 Þe king in such manere suluer wan ynou. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 116 Þe meyre hue by⁓souhte Of alle suche sellers suluer to take.
δc897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlviii. 368 Ðonne he doð..ðæt silofr to diofolᵹieldum. 1128O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1128, Se kyng..micele ᵹersumes him ᵹeaf on gold & on silure. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 228 [They] waren al to gradi of siluer and of golde. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4434 He sal gyf þam..Of gold and silver gret plente. 1411E.E. Wills (1882) 20 Þe siluer þat schal be reseyvyd for þe londes. 1484Coventry Leet Bk. 517 To gedur syluer for the Reparacion of the same. 1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 971 The vther..Concludit schortlie for to slea him, For vyling of his syluer fra him. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxii. 295, I meane by profitable plants, those, which..bring silver to theyr maisters. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 201 He hath bequeathed all his siluer to me: ergo, his ready money. 1800Asiatic Ann. Reg. 67/2 He afterwards distributed silver, to the amount of one lack of rupees. 1845Browning Lost Leader 1 Just for a handful of silver he left us.
εc1720Ramsay Last Speech Miser i, Am I forc'd to die, And nae mair my dear siller see? 1790Burns Tam o' Shanter 24 Ilka melder, wi' the miller, Thou sat as lang as thou had siller. 1818Scott Rob Roy xx, She'll hae a hantle siller. 1843A. Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 48 Nobody will lend him siller. 1896W. Harvey Kennethcrook 52 (E.D.D.), It was seldom the weaver would come to any terms other than ‘siller doon’.
†b. The price in silver of something. Obs.—1
1411E.E. Wills (1882) 19 Þat alle þe londes..be sold, and þe Siluer þere-of spendyd to þe avauncement of lucie, my dowter.
3. Articles made of silver or an alloy of silver; silverware, silver-plate.
13..K. Alis. (Laud MS.) 1156 He dude seruen Olympias In golde, in siluer [W. seolver], in bras, in glas. c1420Anturs of Arth. xxxvi, In siluer sa semly þai serue þame of the beste. c1480Paston Lett. III. 271, ij. lynen bagges..with broke silver and j. old harneis gilt. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 313 The Persians for the most part eat in Porcellane or earth, not valuing Silver. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xliv, The profusion of gold and silver that glittered on the sideboards. 1842Tennyson Will Waterproof 127 [He] Sipt wine from silver. 1864― En. Ard. 742 For cups and silver on the burnish'd board Sparkled and shone.
pl.1830Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. 125 A million tapers flaring bright From twisted silvers.
4. The metal as used for the ornamentation of textile fabrics; silver thread. cloth of silver: see cloth n. 9 c.
1423Rolls of Parlt. IV. 255/1 Brauderie..wrought with Gold or Silver of Cipre. 1566in Hay Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 499 Ten hankis off gold and ten hankis of silver the fynest that can be gottin. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 20 Cloth a gold and cuts, and lac'd with siluer. 1611― Cymb. ii. iv. 69 Her Bed-chamber..was hang'd With Tapistry of Silke, and Siluer. 1805Scott Last Minstr. v. xvi, His cloak was all of Poland fur, His hose with silver twin'd.
5. As a tincture in heraldry, more commonly called argent, but cf. quot. 1868.
c1450Holland Howlat 415 A lyoun..Of siluir ȝe se shold To ramp in array. 1478in W. G. D. Fletcher Shropsh. Grants of Arms (1909) 12 A cross engrayled gold or bythwen foure rosses silver, and to his tymbre a gauntelet sillver sette in a wrethe gold. 1562Legh Armory (1597) 4 Called Siluer, and blased by the name of Argent. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Metal, In Engraving [arms], Gold is expressed by dotting the Coat, &c. all over; Silver, by leaving it quite blank. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxxii, Saint Andrew's cross, in blazonry Of silver, waving wide! 1868Cussans Her. (1893) 50 In blazoning a Charge..supposed to be actually composed of metal..the terms gold and silver should be employed.
6. A silvery colour or lustre.
1481Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 85 Wherin stode somme strange hystoryes whiche were of gold, of sable, of siluer. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 108 By yonder Moone I vow, That tips with siluer all these Fruite tree tops. 1784Cowper Task i. 310 The willow such, And poplar, that with silver lines his leaf. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 71 See the pale azure fading into silver. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lviii, There were scarce three lines of silver in her soft brown hair. 1896Black Briseis xvii, A swan came breasting along,..leaving behind it two flashing divergent lines of silver.
7. a. A variety of insect, fish, bird, etc., having silvery colouring or markings.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 76 The Tawny Silver. 1875Spectator (Melbourne) 19 June 81/1 Common fish, such as..garfish, strangers, silvers, and others. 1879L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 96 Silvers are divided into what is called brown barred and black-barred. 1903F. Simpson Bk. Cat xii. 138 At present our silvers are too full of tabby markings. 1934Nat. Geogr. Mag. Feb. 211 There are four distinct species of salmon which run up the Columbia: the chinook, silver, sockeye, and chum. 1955[see Chinook b].
b. Photogr. A salt of silver, esp. nitrate of silver.
1891in Cent. Dict. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 61 In the dark room add the silver to the collodion.
II. attrib. passing into adj.
8. a. Made or consisting of silver.
These collocations may be employed as the base of formations like silver medallist (see 21 a), silver trumpeter, etc.
1032in Anglia XI. 8 Do hi ealle to gædere þæt þritig seolfor sticca. a1300Cursor M. 4858 He..did a siluer cupe at hide In a sek. Ibid. 8242 A siluer cercle. 1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 97 A sylvre nedle forth I drogh Out of an aguiler. 1424E.E. Wills (1882) 58 One of my siluere girdeles. 1457–8Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 297 To ber ii. sylver masys befor the Baylyfys. 1486Bk. St. Albans c vij, Clense theym clene with a syluer spone. 1530Palsgr. 270/1 Sylver vessell, uessaile dargent. 1563Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 114 Quhy iuge ȝe the goldin and siluir chalissis? 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 33 The manufacture of gold and sylver thrydd. 1669R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 440, I am sure without this my Lord St. Alban's would not have left a silver spoon in the house. 1685Boyle Eff. Motion v. 55, I caused a Watch to be suspended by a little Silver-chain. 1725Portland Papers VI. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 83 Plenty of silver tumblers. 1764Ann. Reg. 79 The size of the watch is something less than a silver two-pence. 1808Scott in Lockhart (1869) III. xviii. 159, I..have only hopes that he may be shot with a silver bullet. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v., The British silver coinage consists of crowns, half-crowns [etc.]. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkback 84 You will value the old silver inkstand.
b. In fig. contexts. (See also spoon n.)
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. v. 764 We schollers fish for a liuing in these shallow foardes without a siluer hoock. 1605Breton Honour Valour viii, To fish for honour with a siluer hooke. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Combattre, Those that with siluer weapons fight are sure to ouercome. 1679,1798[see key n.1 3 b]. 1805Scott Last Minstr. v. xiii, True love..is the secret sympathy, The silver link, the silken tie [etc.]. 1843Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. II. i. xiii. 22 They may be bribed, as we proved..when our cavalcade passed the barriers with a silver key.
c. Containing threads of silver, or some imitation of this.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., Threads of pure Silver, interwove like a Silver Galoon, that has been burnt to get out the Silk. 1799G. Smith Laboratory II. 298 Silver-twist-hackle. Dub with the herl of an ostrich feather. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Silver-lace, wire coated with silver, and woven into lace. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlewk. 225/1 The Gold and Silver Laces of the present day consist of warp threads of silk, or silk and cotton combined.
d. Mounted or plated with silver; wrapped in silvered paper.
1898Daily News 6 Apr. 5/3 The prizes include silver handglasses and scent-bottles. 1904Windsor Mag. Jan. 238/2 Tiny silver comfits wedged into every available little space.
9. Producing or yielding silver.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 798 Hec argentifodina, a sylverquarelle. a1490Botoner Itin. (Nasmith, 1778) 105 Beereferrys ubi les sylver mynes fodiuntur. 1548Elyot, Argentaria fodina, a..syluer myne. c1610Women Saints 1 The precious earth of golde and siluer mines. 1648Hexham ii, Een Zilver-ader, a Silver-veine. 1701De Foe True-born Eng. i. 6 With all the Silver Mountains of Peru. 1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 257 They have for a long time been working it as a rich silver mine. 1839H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall x. 284 As true silver-lodes are found in it, it may also be termed argentiferous. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 344 Some promising silver⁓lodes have lately been taken up. 1892Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 9 A promising market for various silver properties.
b. U.S. (See quot.)
1896Westm. Gaz. 10 July 2/1 The ‘Silver Senators’—that is, the representatives of silver-producing States.
10. Of or pertaining to, connected with, characteristic of, silver.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 262 The gold-smith in the silver-streete. a1618J. Davies (Heref.) Witte's Pilgr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 47/1 Riuers of Nectar ran on golden Sand (With siluer-cleerenesse) through that Paradice. 1670Pettus Fodinæ Reg. 33 Near to which are conveniently placed the Smelting and Refining Mills, which therefore are called the Silver Mills. 1681Grew Musæum iii. ii. i. 324 White Silver Ore, or of a silver-colour, from Cremnitz in Hungary. 1813Edin. Rev. XXII. 148 Von Buch engaged a place in the silver-waggon. 1860Chambers's Encycl. I. 158/1 Our gold and silver standards similarly stated would be 917 and 925 respectively. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 73/2 This alleged fall, its causes, consequences, and remedies, constitute the ‘Silver Question’.
b. Denoting compounds of which silver forms a part.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XI. 442/1 Some silver amalgama is pressed upon it through a chamois skin. 1849D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 8 Silver-salts exposed to light become black by the absorption of oxygen. 1868Fownes' Chem. (ed. 10) 354 When chlorine gas is passed over fused silver fluoride, silver chlorine is formed. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 123/1 Gold of 20 carats with 4 carats of silver alloy.
c. Of or pertaining to silver articles or silverware.
1648Hexham ii, Een Zilver-schappraeye, a Silver-cupboord. 1686,1725[see scullery 1 b]. 1883Pall Mall G. 17 April 5/1 Finding that the silver trade has rejected..what he proposed as a boon.
d. Advocating, relating to, etc., the adoption of silver as a currency or standard.
1879Bradstreet's 22 Oct. 5/1 The silver men are as violent and rampant as ever. 1890Daily News 10 Feb. 2/4 Why should we not have stored bullion instead? Silver men will probably answer [etc.]. 1893Nation 29 June 467/1 The very little game which our silver-bugs..are trying to play on us. 1901N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 271 The silver cabal won at every point.
11. a. Used for holding (silver) money. rare.
1526Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 402 Every man or woman which makith aquavitie, honied alle [or] singill alle to be ratiffied and sold, to paye the accostomid ratte to the silver boxe. 1773Fergusson Sitting of Session vii, Gin ony..has na lous'd his siller pocks. a1837R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 110 Misers make Their heaven o' a siller bag.
†b. Sc. Of payments, etc.: Made or levied in (silver) money. Obs.
1579Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 143 To pay to thame the..sylvir prices and maillis of the samyn. 1596Melvill Autobiog. (Wodrow Soc.) 332 Setting..lyff-rents successive for peyment of small silver-dewtie. 1597Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Firmarius, Quhidder it be siluer-maill, victuall, or vther deutie. a1688Dallas Stiles 279 Which Lands..amount in yearly free Rent..to [so much] Silver-Rent. 1754Erskine Princ. Law Scot. iv. ii. (1870) 587 Even intromission with the silver rent.
c. Played for stakes in silver coin.
1748H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 223 There were silver pharaoh and whist for the ladies.
12. Having the whiteness or lustre of silver; silvery. Chiefly poet.
silver lining: see lining vbl. n.1 2 b.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 636 And firy Phebus..dryeth in the greues The siluer dropes hangynge on the leues. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 937 The freshnes of the clere wellys..Made the colde siluer stremes To shyne ageyn the sonne bemes. c1450― Secrees 1316 The lusty Silvir dewh in the grene meedys. c1450Holland Howlat 410 Ane..bure in till asure..Siluer sternis so fair. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 46 This precious stone, set in the siluer sea. 1605― Macb. ii. iii. 118 Here lay Duncan, His Siluer skinne lac'd with his Golden Blood. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 52 Fair Galatea, with thy silver Feet, O, whiter than the Swan. 1738Gray Propertius iii. 21 Yonder Star..with silver light Relumes her crescent Orb to cheer the dreary Night. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 202 In gentler climes their silver currents flow. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xii, A lodging..which looked out upon the silver Thames (for Thames was silver then). 1879Farrar St. Paul I. 257 Brightening more and more with the silver dawn.
b. Of the hair, beard, or head, when white with age. Also in fig. context.
1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. Wks. (Grosart) I. 253 Auncient men, vpon whose siluer heads the Almond-tree hath blossomde. 1592Lyly Midas ii. i, If one be olde, & haue siluer haires on his beard. 1606Sir Gyles Goosecappe v. i, This speech hath silver haires, and reverence askes. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vii. xl, Her silver heads adorning, (Her dotage index). 1810J. Porter Sc. Chiefs xxviii, The long silver beard..hung over his hands. 1833Tennyson May Queen iii. iv, O blessings on his kindly heart and on his silver head! 1850― In Mem. lxxxiv, To reverence and the silver hair.
transf.1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 43 You, Lord Arch-bishop,..Whose Beard, the Siluer Hand of Peace hath touch'd. 1635–56Cowley Davideis ii. 706 No Silver Rev'rence guards the stooping Age.
13. Of sounds: Having a clear gentle resonance like that of silver; soft-toned, melodious.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 142 We shal yelde a benigne & gentyll answere, & gyue a swete syluer sounde as y⊇ tryed syluer. 1592Breton C'tess Pembroke's Love vii, Some brought in musicke of most siluer sounde. 1613W. Browne Brit. Past. i. v. 93 A Swaine (with Lawrell crown'd) Marrying his sweet Noates with their siluer sound. 1629Milton Hymn Nativ. xiii, Let your silver chime Move in melodious time. 1725Pope Odyss. i. 426 The vaulted roof..Reflecting to the queen the silver sounds. 1801Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. Viol d'amour, A kind of silver sound, at once..soft, sweet, and tender. 1839Marryat Phant. Ship iii, He recalled..her silver voice. 1857Ld. Dufferin Lett. High Lat. 160 A mingled stream of music, light, and silver laughter.
b. Eloquent, persuasive, sweet-spoken.
1594in Ingelby Shaks. Cent. Praise 12 As worthie subjects of your silver pen. 1713Arbuthnot John Bull ii. viii, Serjeant such-a-one has a Silver Tongue at the Bar. 1833H. Martineau Briery Creek iv, It must be such a silver tongue as never yet spoke that could persuade any nation [etc.]. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles xv. 150 Mr...Crawley; to whose silver tongue the world owed the liberty of many a ruffian. 1896Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 198, I..would give my eyes for..the silver tongues of them.
14. poet.
a. Soft, gentle.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. ix. 22 All the night in siluer sleepe I spend.
b. Prosperous, happy. Cf. Silver age 1.
1659–60Ph. Skippon's Petit. to Citie of London 1 Alas, those Silver daies are done, and this iron Age hath overtaken your poor Petitioner.
15. Of or pertaining to the silver age of Latin (see Silver age 1 b).
1889Jacobs æsop 14 Some of the fables..were products of Silver Latinity. 1896N. & Q. 8th Ser. IX. 487 In any given passage in a silver Latin author. Ibid., One of the best-known authors of the silver period, Juvenal.
III. Comb.
16. Objective or obj. genitive:
a. With agent-nouns, as silver-chaser, silver-lover, silver-miner, etc.
a1400N. T. (Paues) Acts xix. 24 For one, whos name was Demetrye, þat was a siluer-maker,..he gafe [etc.]. 1483Cath. Angl. 340/1 A Syluer maker or keper, argentarius. 1680C. Ness Ch. Hist. 242 Those sordid silver-lovers..being courtiers had a fair opportunity. 1692Lond. Gaz. No. 2770/4 A Silver-spinner in Bunhill-fields. 1718W. Penn Wks. (1726) I. 713, I being a Silver-Spinster. 1772Ann. Reg. 153 Mr. Mansel, silver polisher, in Corbet-court. 1815Niles' Register VIII. 141/2 There are..2 silver platers; 3 trunk makers [etc.]. 1819Pantologia X, Silver-beater, one that foliates silver. 1846Holtzapffel Turning II. 731 The silver-piercer sits at the silversmiths' and jewellers' ordinary work-bench. 1848Dickens Dombey viii, She is alive,..and is married to a silver-chaser. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Silver-plater, an electrotyper. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abroad vi. 57 To speak after the fashion of the silver-miners. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1195/2 The bane of the gold and silver miner.
b. With pres. pples., as silver-bearing, silver-producing, silver-shaming, etc.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 230 Sad sighes, deepe grones, nor siluer-shedding teares. 1648Herrick Hesper., Vision, Sitting alone..Close by a Silver-shedding Brook. a1699J. Beaumont Minor Poems, Whiteness, The Silver-shaming Grace Of the Moon's unclouded Face. c1710Yalden To Sir H. Mackworth xiv, The Silver-shedding Beams of Orient Light. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 251, 2 to 3 feet of silver-bearing quartz. 1888Daily News 5 Apr. 5/2 If Lancashire depends for custom upon silver-using countries to this extent. 1891Ibid. 23 Feb. 5/7 The popular reaction against free coinage continues, extending even to the silver-producing States.
c. With vbl. ns. or nouns of action, as silver-mining, silver-plating, silver-reduction.
1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 25/1 The art of silver-plating was introduced at Sheffield about the middle of the last century. 1856Orr's Circ. Sci., Pract. Chem. 47 The vats used for ordinary silver-plating are about twenty-four or thirty inches deep. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It p. iv, The silver-mining fever in Nevada. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining p. ix, In all silver-reduction works. Ibid. 245 The silver-mining of Beaver Head County.
17. Parasynthetic and instrumental, of the types silver-armed, silver-axled, silver-bearded, silver-bowed, silver-breasted, etc.; silver-bound, silver-mounted, etc.
Such combinations have been very extensively used, esp. in poetry, and the number which might be formed is very great. In addition to those illustrated here, see silver-coloured, -footed, -haired, etc.
a. Denoting the use of the metal itself.
1598Marston Sco. Villanie i. iii, A hoode, and siluer-handled fan. 1634Milton Comus 442 Fair silver-shafted Queen for ever chaste. c1640― Arcades 33 Fair silver-buskind Nymphs. 1680Lond. Gaz. No. 1495/4 A Case of Silver-hafted Knives. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. II. xliv. 79 A pair of silver mounted pistols. 1753Hanway Trav. (1762) II. i. ix. 49 The serjeants of the guards have silver-laced regimentals. 1813Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) III. ii. 99, I..delight in collecting silver-mounted pistols and ataghans. 1819― Ivanhoe xlv, Rowena opened the small silver-chased casket. 1843Dickens Mart. Chuz. (1844) xix. 237 To provide silver-plated handles of the very best description. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxvii, There was the jewel⁓case, silver-clasped. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 259 [He] bids [his horse]..to dig for him a grave..with his silver-plated hoofs. 1881O. Wilde Poems 67 Sweeter far if silver-sandalled foot Of some long-hidden God should ever tread The Nuneham meadows. 1889P. H. Emerson Eng. Idyls 18 The grandmother looked..over her silver-rimmed spectacles. 1894‘Mark Twain’ Those Twins v. 393 The Judge..laid aside his silver-bowed spectacles. 1916Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) v. 176 He would think of the cloistral silverveined prose of Newman. 1916Blunden Harbingers 63 So silver-sandalled down those golden ways He triumphs. 1922Joyce Ulysses 506 He carries a silverstringed inlaid dulcimer... He wears dark velvet hose and silverbuckled pumps. 1928‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country xv. 258 He was filling a bolster with articles of jewellery, silver-backed brushes, hand mirrors, candlesticks, silver-topped bottles, &c. 1944W. Fortescue Mountain Madness i. 22 A wide silver-studded black leather belt. 1939D. Cecil Young Melbourne vi. 155 She also created scandal by appearing..imperfectly disguised as a page, in a plumed hat, silver-laced jacket and tight scarlet pantaloons. 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird xiii. 170 There's a white leather gift box in every cabin, fitted out with..silver-topped crystal bottles.
b. With allusion to the sound of silver.
1593T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 191 Ioyfull birds..Whose siluer tuned songs might well haue moued her. 1608Shakes. Per. v. i. 111 My dearest wife was like this maid,..As silver-voiced. 1642H. More Song of Soul To Rdr., I strike my silver-sounded lyre. 1844Mrs. Browning Lady Geraldine's Courtship xxii, Though sometimes she would bind me with her silver-corded speeches. 1884Cassell's Fam. Mag. Apr. 271/2 The beautiful note of the silver-voiced bell-bird.
c. With reference to the colour or lustre of silver.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 214 The silver-fronted Star, That swells and shrinks the Seas. 1596C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 25 Her silver-feathered turtle-doves. 1606Dekker Seven Deadly Sins Wks. (Grosart) II. 69 Euen the siluer-bearded..cittizens haue giuen him welcomes. 1645G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) II. 76 When silver-winged Peace againe shall Shine. 1791Cowper Iliad ii. 924 The silver-eddied Peneus. 1820Shelley Witch Atlas lvii, Like a calm flock of silver-fleeced sheep. 1830Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. (1863) 82 A silver-barked beech, or a lime tree in full blossom. 1851J. G. Whittier in National Era 3 Jan. 106/4 Whose small waves on a silver-sanded shore Whisper of peace. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington 136 A saviour of the silver-coasted isle. 1881O. Wilde Poems 24 Lure the silver-breasted Helena Back from the lotus meadows of the dead. 1884Browning Ferishtah 112 And where's the gloom now?—silver-smitten straight, One glow and variegation! 1903Kipling Five Nations 2 The inrolling walls of the fog and the silver-winged breeze that disperses. 1926Spectator 11 Sept. 370/1 Wide silver-breasted rivers flowing to a sunlit sea. 1937Burlington Mag. May 252/2 Two bowls of Chien yao... One is of the silver-flecked variety. 1957R. Campbell Coll. Poems II. 121 On the silver-sanded shores. 1962Daily Tel. 5 Oct. 22/2 The silver-suited astronaut. 1967Coast to Coast 1965–6 32 All manner of fabulous creatures of the deep surged and surfaced amid the molten silver-flecked arrowing lines of foaming waves.
d. In specific names of animals, birds, fishes, plants, etc.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 55/2 The Spanish *Silver-cupped Moly.
1752Hill Hist. Anim. 252 The *silver-eyed Sparus. 1802Shaw Gen. Zool. III. ii. 431 Silver-eyed Snake... A Siberian species. 1809Ibid. VII. ii. 366 Silver-eyed crow... Native of South America.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 876/1 Another useful race of compact form.., called the *silver-laced Wyandotte.
1887Beldon in Wright Illustr. Bk. Poultry 382 These and all other names are gradually giving way to that of *Silver-pencilled Hamburghs.
1849D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 59 In the ‘*silver-spangled’ variety, the only perceptible difference is, that the ground color is a silvery white. 1871Darwin Desc. Man ii. xiv. (1890) 426 The Golden and Silver-spangled Polish..breeds.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 540 *Silver-spotted Sciæna... Native of the Arabian seas. 1884Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 320 The Silver-spotted Tunny, Orcynus argentivittatus.
1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. i. 174 *Silver-striped Herring... Native of the Indian and American seas. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 78/2 The sycamore maple,..Silver-striped.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 45 The *Silver-studded Blue (Polymmatus ægon) is common on heaths.
1819G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend., Argynnis Paphia, the *silver-washed Fritillary. 1859W. S. Coleman Woodlands (1866) 147 One of our handsomest butterflies—The Silver-washed Fritillary.
18. With pres. pples., in the sense of ‘like, or with, silver’, as silver-eddying, silver-flashing, silver-flowing, etc.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 71 The siluer sounding instruments. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 24 The morning's silver⁓melting dew. 1594Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. G.'s Wks. (Rtldg.) 117 Rounded with Lycus' silver-flowing streams. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 46 The Siluer-shining Sand expresseth Sulpher. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche x. cclxxiv, When Eloquence's tributary streams After the Silver-thrilling Current run. 1725Pope Odyssey i. 464 Pallas..In slumber clos'd her silver-streaming eyes. 1742Gray Eton 10 Wanders the hoary Thames along His silver-winding way. 1830Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. 51 The central fountain's flow Fall'n silver-chiming. 1845Hirst Poems 77 Whence arise..his silver-swelling strains? 1871Palgrave Lyr. Poems 46 The steel..Hung silver-glittering on high. 1932D. Gascoyne Roman Balcony 33 And through their long-nailed fingers Glide the silver-shining minnows. 1944W. de la Mare Coll. Rhymes & Verses 99 There silver-shining Hesper Smiles at Mars.
19. Qualifying other adjectives, as silver-blue, silver bright, silver-clear, silver-golden, etc.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 166 How siluer sweet, sound Louers tongues by night. 1595― John ii. i. 315 Their Armours that march'd hence so siluer bright. 1603J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 91/1 Many a glitt'ring siluer-golden spang. 1749Gray Installat. Ode 32 Oft woo'd the gleam of Cynthia silver-bright. 1830Tennyson Lilian 24 Silver-treble laughter trilleth. 1833― Two Voices 428 A little whisper silver-clear. 1871Browning Pr. Hohenst. 308 Where some segment silver-true Stays clear. 1914L. Woolf Wise Virgins iv. 110 The silver-green water glided by him. 1922Joyce Ulysses 537 Through silver⁓silent summer air the dummy of Bloom, rolled in a mummy, rolls rotatingly. 1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 19 Silver-pink peach, venetian green glass of medlars and sorb-apples. 1959W. Thesiger Arabian Sands xii. 242 We came to a succession of dune-chains, each of which..showed up in turn as a wavy silver-blue wall. 1959R. Graves Coll. Poems 315 And next the silver-bright Hyperborean Queendom. 1973J. Seabrook Loneliness 117 A quiet, rather subdued woman; smart, with silver-blue hair. 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird xiii. 165 The pearly capped teeth and silver-pink mouth.
20. With ns., forming an attributive comb.
1675Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 38 Then by Alcandre t' Helena divine A silver brim guilt basket given was. 1677Lond. Gaz. No. 1238/4 A bright silver-hair bay Gelding. 1678Phillips (ed. 4), Silver-spoon-head, in Archery, is the Head of some sort of Arrows, so called from the resemblance they have to the knobs of some sorts of Silver-spoons. 1799[A. Young] Agric. Lincoln. 385, 2000 couple of silver hair [rabbits]. 1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. i. 108 Silver-stripe Pike, Esox Hepsetus.
IV.
21. Special combs.: silver-balli (see quot.); silver band, a brass band with silver-coloured instruments; silver bar (see quot.); silver bath, a solution, esp. of silver nitrate, used for sensitizing photographic plates and printing paper; a dish to contain this; silver-beggar, -black (see quots.); silver blond(e) a., of hair: of a very light, silvery colour, esp. as the result of bleaching (cf. platinum blond(e) s.v. platinum 2 c); † silver bridal = silver marriage; silver bronze (see quot.); † silver caustic, lunar caustic; silver collection, a collection of ‘silver’ coins (or of money of no denomination lower than these) made at a meeting, etc.; silver cord, (a) used in phr. the silver cord is loosed and varr. (in allusion to Eccl. xii. 6) to signify the dissolution of life at death; (b) a symbol of excessive devotion between mother and child; silver doctor , an artificial fishing fly having a body of tinsel; † silver-eyed a., wall-eyed; silver-feast = silver wedding below; silver-fizz, an effervescing drink based on gin and egg-white (cf. fizz, fiz n. 3); † silver-foam, litharge; silver-fork, used attrib. to designate a school of novelists about 1830 distinguished by an affectation of gentility; also applied to later novelists displaying similar characteristics; silver glass (see quots.); † silver-glet, litharge; silver handshake, a gratuity given on retirement or as compensation for dismissal from one's occupation (of less value than a golden handshake); † silver hell slang, a low-class gambling saloon (cf. hell n. 8) (obs.); † silver-hider, a miser; silver jubilee: see jubilee n. 3 a; Silver Lady, an epithet applied to Miss Elizabeth Baxter (d. 1972), philanthropist, from her custom of giving silver coins to the down-and-outs of the Embankment in London, used attrib. to describe a charitable organization (and its appurtenances) which distributes food and hot drinks to vagrants; silver lustre, a composition used for silvering potter's ware; † silver-marriage (in Sc. form siller), a marriage at which each guest contributed a money-offering; silver medal, a medal made of or resembling silver, awarded as the second prize in a contest, esp. in the Olympic Games; hence silver medallist; silver oar (see quot. 1867); Silver Office, an office formerly attached to the Court of Common Pleas; silver piece (see the quotation for silver bar); † silver-pill (see quot.); silver-point, (a) the process of making a drawing with a silver pencil on specially prepared paper; a drawing made in this way; (b) the freezing point of silver under normal atmospheric pressure (about 962°C), as a thermometric fixed point; silver-pointed a., coloured or tinged in the manner of a silver-point drawing; hence, as a back-formation, silver-point v. trans., to cause to appear so; silver polish, a polish used for cleaning and brightening silver; silver-powder, a preparation of bismuth, tin, and mercury, used by japanners, etc. (Knight, 1875); silver print, a photograph produced by silver-printing; silver-printing, (a) the process of producing a photograph on paper sensitized with a silver salt; (b) printing in which the letters, etc., have a silver colour; † silver quinsy = silver sickness; silver rain (see rain n.1 4 c); silver ring Racing (see quot. 1921) (cf. Tattersall 1 b); also attrib.; silver sand, a fine white sand used in horticulture, etc.; silver screen, a cinematographic projection screen covered with metallic paint to produce a highly reflective silver-coloured surface; usu. transf., the cinema generically, considered as a medium for such film projection; silver service (see quot. 1970); Silver Shirts U.S., the name applied to the Silver Legion, an American fascist, anti-Semitic paramilitary group founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1940 (cf. blackshirt); † silver-sick a., avaricious; † silver sickness (see quot. 1706 and cf. silver quinsy above); silver-side, the upper and choicer part of a round of beef; silver-skin, (a) a variety of potato; (b) an inner skin on coffee-beans; silver solder, a solder partly composed of silver; hence silver-solder v. and silver-soldering vbl. n.; † silver-spat, a silver-bearing rock; silver-spoonism (see quot.); † silver squinsy, = silver sickness above; Silver Star, a decoration for gallantry awarded to members of the U.S. Army and Navy (see quot. 1941); also Silver Star medal; silver state U.S., a state producing silver, or advocating free coinage of silver; spec. (with initial capitals) Nevada or, less freq., Colorado; silver steel, a fine steel containing a small amount of silver; silver-stick (see quot.); † silver stone, a variety of granite; silver streak, the English Channel; also attrib.; silver string (see quot.); silver table, (a) a table made of or plated with silver; (b) a table used for the display of silverware, freq. with raised edges (and a glass lid); silver-tail, -tailed a. (see quots.); silver tea N. Amer., a tea-party at which the guests make contributions (typically, of ‘silver’ coin) to charity; silver thaw, the phenomenon of rain freezing as it falls and forming a glassy coating on the ground, trees, etc.; (see also quot. 1867); silver thread, used attrib. to denote a variety of ironstone; silver top U.S., a disease in grasses which whitens the upper part of the stalk; † silver web, a kind of confection in sugar; silver wedding, the twenty-fifth anniversary of a wedding (cf. silver-feast above); (see also wedding vbl. n. 2 b); silver weight, (a) the weight used for silver; (b) the equivalent weight in silver; † silver-worm, a glow-worm; silver wreck, a wrecked silver-ship.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Silver-balli, a wood obtained in Demerara from a species of Nectandra.
1933Radio Times 14 Apr. 126/5 The Tullis Russell *Silver Band. 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xxv. 228 ‘Thump! Thump! Thump!’ said the drum of the Bures Silver Band. 1976Times 3 May 12/4 The Eastbourne silver band, in bright red jackets, played California Here I Come.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 241 [The] *Silver Bar [or] Silver Piece [is] the graduated arc at the extremity of a watch regulator when it is made of silver.
1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 61 The following formula for the *silver⁓bath solution is a standard one. 1889Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 38 The silver bath..standing in the sun,..that it may do its dark work the better.
c1842Exposure of Impositions practised by Vagrants 4, I shall begin with those vagrants who, generally, obtain the most, and are considered of the first class, and by some termed ‘*Silver Beggars’, but by travellers they are called ‘Lurkers’. 1864Slang Dict. 230 Silver-beggar or Lurker, a vagabond who travels through the country with ‘briefs’ containing false statements of losses by fire, shipwrecks, accidents, &c.
1805R. Jameson Min. II. 152 *Silver-black... Colour bluish-black, which inclines a little to dark lead-grey. 1867Brande & Cox Dict. Sci. III. 457/2 Silver Black, an earthy form of Silver Glance..found in several Saxon and Hungarian mines.
1951J. C. Fennessy Sonnet in Bottle i. 29 *Silver-blond hair, silver-grey eyes. 1959M. Summerton Small Wilderness i. 8 The silver-blonde hair that curved..to her shoulders. 1974D. Francis Knock Down iii. 37 She had silver shoes and silver-blonde hair.
1624Rec. Presbytery of Fordyce (MS.), Abuses at *Sylver brydells.
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 125 *Silver bronze, a metallic powder used for silver printing.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Silver, This powder applied to ulcers, acts in the manner of the lapis infernalis, or *silver-caustic.
1957B. & S. G. Hulme Beaman Ernest the Brave 8 ‘I was referring to the pence expected as a result of this disgraceful exhibition!’ ‘Oh, Mr. Growser, sir,’ Larry interrupted. ‘This is supposed to be a *silver collection.’ 1972H. Kemelman Monday Rabbi took Off xxii. 145 Imagine, Katz, no charge. Not even a silver collection.
1911J. A. Thomson Introd. Sci. vi. 177 If we can use such a word, the *silver cord of the bundle of life is loosed, and earth returns to earth. The microbes of decay break down the dead, and there is a return to air and water and salts. 1934F. S. Fitzgerald Tender is Night i. xiii. 76 ‘The silver cord is cut and the golden bowl is broken and all that, but an old romantic like me can't do anything about it.’ ‘I'm romantic too.’ They came out of the neat restored trench, and faced a memorial to the Newfoundland dead. 1942P. Wylie Generation of Vipers xi. 185 Our land, subjectively mapped, would have more silver cords and apron strings crisscrossing it than railroads and telephone wires. 1959J. Braine Vodi xxi. 232 Her mother, as usual, had won. And, what was hardest to forgive, had won fairly; she wasn't the Silver Cord type, she'd never been possessive. 1973G. Mackay Brown Magnus vii. 156 Magnus Erlendson would live out his life, until such time as the silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl broken, and the pitcher broken at the fountain.
1875Encycl. Brit. II. 40/2 The *silver doctor, also a very great favourite. Tag, silver tinsel; tail, a topping; but, a turn of red crewel; body of silver tinsel entirely; [etc.]. 1931Hardy's Anglers' Guide 31 Your fairy shrimp, just as pretty..as any Jock Scott or Silver Doctor.
1695Lond. Gaz. No. 3086/4 A dark Iron grey Mare,..*Silver Eyed. 1702Ibid. No. 3857/4 A small black Gelding about 13 hands... Wall or Silver-Ey'd.
1796Stedman Surinam II. 216 The celebration of what he called his *Silver-feast, being the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage. 1806Mrs. Barbauld Wks. (1825) II. 125 We should have great pleasure in keeping with you your silver feast, as the Germans call it when a couple have lived happily a quarter of a century together.
1901O. Wister Philos. 4 in Stories of Colleges 68 It must have been that extra *silver-fizz you took before dinner. 1977E. Ambler Send no More Roses vi. 121 He was drinking a silver-fizz, a long drink made of gin and egg-whites.
1565Cooper Thes., Argyritis, *siluer fome. 1611Cotgr., Litharge d'argent, siluer foame.
[1827Examiner 18 Nov. 722/2 A writer of this accomplished stamp..also informs you that the quality eat fish with silver forks.] 1831Times 15 Dec. 5/3 A single chapter of any one of them is worth more than the whole bundle of those contemptible productions of the *silver-fork school, which are called ‘fashionable novels’. 1834Tait's Mag. I. 59/1 A man who would die a martyr to his faith in the silver-fork school of manners and morals. 1884J. Payn Lit. Recollect. 154 It had the culture of the silver-fork school without their affectation. 1974Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Oct. 1092/5 The suspicion grows that this is a new-style ‘silver fork’ novel, with merchant bankers taking the place of noble dukes.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 62/2 Some of the rich silver ores are easily tried: for instance, minera argenti vitrea,..*silver-glass, which consists only of silver and sulphur. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 813/1 Silver Glass, an ornamental ground and cut glass. This glass can be used in the place of plaster, marble floors, or wood inlaid work.
1668Charleton Onomast. 306 Lithargyros, Litharge, or *Silver⁓glet.
1958M. Pugh Wilderness of Monkeys 84 Flash Willy is just about to go back to London, pick up his *silver handshake, his sacking money, and get himself a corner in the ‘I will photograph your child in your home’ lark. 1979C. Dexter Service of All Dead ii. 17 A little silver handshake, a little farewell party.
1835T. Power Jrnl. 13 Jan. in Impressions of Amer. (1836) II. 196 With here and there a couple of the same sort of gemman to be met with about the *silver hells of London. 1843‘W. I. Moncrieff’ Scamps of London i. i. 5 in Sel. Dramatic Wks. (1851) I, He's the principal partner in all the silver hells at the west end.
1611Cotgr., Serargent,..a scrape-good, penny-father, *siluer-hider, money-hoorder.
1961Ann. Charities Reg. & Digest 208/2 *Silver Lady Fund. Mobile café out on Embankment serving hot tea and food free to the needy. Miss Betty Baxter.., E.C.4. 1978C. A. Berry Gentleman of Road xv. 171 The Silver Lady van arrived and mugs of tea and meat pies were distributed.
1834–6Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 468/2 The *silver lustre is differently prepared.
1825Jamieson Suppl., *Siller-Marriage, the same with Penny-Brydal. 1851W. Anderson Rhymes (1867) 181 (E.D.D.), Siller marriages fifty years syne war in vogue.
1908*Silver medal [see gold1 8 d]. 1958[see baton n. 2 b]. 1976All about the Games (Com. Org. des Jeux Olympiques) 24 Canada's 74 athletes won one silver medal.
1911N.E.D. s.v. silver sb. and a. 8, *Silver medallist. 1976Daily Tel. 20 July 1/7 The cheating by Boris Onischenko, silver medallist at the Mexico City and Munich Olympics.
1771Ann. Reg. i. 66 Captain Ferguson..was carried from Newgate, the Marshal of the Admiralty, the officer carrying the *silver oar, &c., attending. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 626 Silver-oar, one of the badges of the civil court afloat, conferring the power to arrest for debt if not less than {pstlg}20.
1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 573 Clerk of the Queen's *Silver-Office. 1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 312/1 The king's Silver Office books are the chief indexes to the fines.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., *Silver-pill, a chemical preparation of silver, formerly highly commended.
1882Hamerton Graphic Arts xii. 97 *Silver-point, as practised by the best masters. 1893McCarthy Red Diamonds I. 219 Marvellously artistic etchings and ‘silver-points’. 1928Bureau of Standards Jrnl. Res. (U.S.) I. 637 The constants a, b, and c are to be determined by calibration at the freezing point of antimony, and at the silver and gold points. 1967Condon & Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) v. iii. 41/1 In the neighbourhood of 1000°C new determinants of the silver point and gold point have been made in recent years.
1976I. Murdoch Henry & Cato i. 46 A bright half moon was..*silverpointing the slates and making pendant shadows beneath the..eaves.
1913C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. ii. xx. 483 They moved to Geneva, whose *silverpointed beauty for a while deceived them. 1930R. Campbell Poems 1 Two sisters... Whose fingers glint with silver⁓pointed nails.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 193 Thorn's *Silver Polish, Liquid Form, 15c. per Bottle. 1974‘D. Fletcher’ Lovable Man i. 37 He memorised the exact position of the silver polish and..began to polish the lighter.
1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 138 The colour of the *silver print when appearing through this other metal may give a pleasing tint. 1901Athenæum 12 Oct. 497/1 The views here given..cannot compare in sharpness with the unfortunately perishable silver prints.
1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 28 In determining the fixing agent to employ in *silver printing, this point has to be taken into consideration. 1888Silver printing [see silver bronze above].
1706Phillips (ed. 6), Argentangia, the *Silver-Quinsey. 1843Liddell & Scott, ἀργυράγχη, the silver-quinsy, which Demosthenes was said to have [etc.].
1921E. Wallace Law Four Just Men ix. 261, I found a poor little bookmaker in the *silver ring—the silver ring is the enclosure where smaller bets are made in Tattersall's reservation. 1926J. Masefield Odtaa xv. 257 A vile, taunting, silver-ring tick. 1939Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime xx. 306 She is the daughter of a retired Silver Ring bookie. 1973‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog xvii. 227 Sandro was in Tatt's... He could also go down the social and financial scale into the Silver Ring and the cheapest enclosures.
1851B'ham & Midl. Gardeners' Mag. Aug. 135, I put them [sc. seeds] into a wood or paper box,..with a little dry *silver sand. 1856Delamer Fl. Garden (1861) 164 How are you off for silver-sand, pasture-loam?
[1921‘M. Pickford’ Let. in V. Burnett Romantick Lady (1927) xxxii. 398 It is not always easy to take a classic like ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ and place it on the cold, silver screen.] 1924Amer. Hebrew 22 Feb. 439 (heading) ‘Shooting’ news for the *silver screen; Pathe film editor who brings home to millions timely pictures of world events. 1931B. Brown Talking Pictures i. 19 Somehow there had crept into this new field of endeavour the romance of the silver screen. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. 636/4 Not a night passes without one aspect or another of the far western frontier holding children from play and old men from the chimney corner on the silver screen or on ‘the Telly’. 1979A. Hailey Overload iii. xii. 256 Cameron Clarke objected to Tunipah and the god of the silver screen had spoken.
1970Drive Spring 43/1 *Silver service means that your plate is put before you empty and the various parts of your dish are served separately from silver. 1976Evening Standard 14 June 25/3 (Advt.), Commis de rang for our high class Prince's Room Restaurant—must have silver service experience.
1934Sun (Baltimore) 6 Aug. 6/2 A California newspaper has published the exciting news that the *Silver Shirts of America plan to put down the Communists and then take over control of the American Government. 1959W. Faulkner Mansion 303 When the Silver Shirts appeared, Clarence was one of the first in Mississippi to join it.
c1480Henryson Fables, Wolf & Fox xiii, Ye are *siluer-seik, I wait richt weill.
1548Elyot Lat. Dict., Argentagina, the *syluer sycknesse. 1706Phillips (ed. 6), Silver-sickness, or Silver-squincy, is when an Advocate or pleading Lawyer, being brib'd by the other Party, feigns himself sick, or not able to speak.
[1845E. Acton Mod. Cookery viii. 206 The natural division of the meat will show where the silver-side of the round is to be separated from the upper, or tongue side.] 1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 283 As a whole round of beef..is too large for small families..we here give the recipes for dressing a portion of the *silver side of the round. 1876Besant & Rice Son of Vulc. i. vi, Such a beautiful bit of beef too, silverside. 1881Blackmore Cristowell iii, I can milk a cow, and pot a vine, and bed down a pony, and salt a silver-side.
1797Billingsley View Agric. Somerset 116 The sorts [of potato] cultivated are the kidney..and *silver skin. 1883Cassell's Fam. Mag. Aug. 528/1 The beans [of coffee are] put through a winnower, which takes off a delicate skin still remaining, called the ‘silver-skin’.
1682Boyle Contin. New Exper. ii. 18 And therefore *silver-solder could not be used in cementing the parts, but onely lead-solder. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 434 The hard solders most commonly used are the spelter solders, and silver solders.
1900Hasluck Mod. Eng. Handy-bk. 87 The flanges can be made separately, and either brazed or *silver-soldered on ends of tube.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 443 The practice of *silver-soldering is essentially the same as brazing.
1668Charleton Onomast. 301 Saxa Metallaria, *Silver-Spat.
1859Habits of Gd. Society 50 *Silver-spoonism is, after all, vulgarity; it is an assumption of delicacy superior to the majority.
1611Cotgr., Argentangine, the *siluer Squinzie, a disease wherwith many besides Demosthenes..haue beene troubled. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1278 The silver-squincy, when a pleader being bribed by the other side, feigns himself sick, and not able to speak.
1932U.S. Army Regulations 8 Aug. No. 600–45 p. 1 The authorized decorations awarded by the United States are: a. Awarded by the War Department... (4) *Silver Star. 1932N.Y. Times 18 Dec. ii. 2/5 Captain Herbert G. Rosboro..received the Silver Star medal today from the War Department for gallantry in action in October, 1918. 1941J. McDowell Morgan Military Medals & Insignia of U.S. 76 The Silver Star was established..on July 9, 1918. This originally was a unique badge of honor, being a small silver star, 3/16-inch in diameter, designed to be worn on the ribbon of a campaign medal to indicate..‘a citation for gallantry in action’... On August 8, 1932, a distinct medal, known as the Silver Star Decoration, was established as a reward to those persons previously cited in orders for gallantry in action. 1948E. E. Cummings Let. 27 Aug. (1969) 185 The hyperscientific climax of this hero (a prominent killer, holder of Silver Stars & Clusters & Purple Hearts galore)'s experience. 1969I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam vii. 153 You've been awarded the Silver Star for your action at Dak To. 1982H. Lieberman Late Call lxiii. 308 I'm a veteran with a silver star and a purple heart.
1866Eastern Slope (Washoe, Nevada) 15 Sept. 4/1 The *Silver State struck it rich when they elected H. G. Blasdel to the Gubernatorial chair. 1871Harper's Mag. Oct. 799/1 In our early days in the Silver State females were rarely to be seen in the frontier mining camps. 1885Weekly New Mexican Rev. 8 Jan. 4/2 All the silver states and territories [should] organize to resist the effort which the single standard advocates are making in congress to suspend the coinage of silver. 1946Trail & Timberline May 74/1 Colorado miners had been looking for gold but silver became of such importance that when the Territory became a state in 1876, it was known as the Silver State and Georgetown was called the Silver Queen. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 10-c/2 It was a bluish-gray ore—silver—and Nevada is now appropriately nicknamed ‘The Silver State’.
1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 248 *Silver steel, having the advantage of euphony.., becomes a popular denomination in the market.
1882Ogilvie (Annandale), *Silver-stick, the name given to a field-officer of the Life Guards when on palace duty.
1758Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 100 The *Silver Stone..is of great lustre in the microscope, every other granite placed by its side looking flat and tame.
1879Even. Standard 11 Nov., The answer of the citizens of London to the ‘*silver-streak’ politicians. 1888J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge v, The silver streak, on the other side of which is dear England.
1875Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, *Silver strings, the covered strings used on violins, tenors, violoncellos, guitars, etc.
c1792C. Fiennes Journeys (1947) iii. xii. 279 Here's a *silver table and stands and glass frame. 1897Westm. Gaz. 4 Jan. 1/3, I should probably catch hold of..the things off my silver-table. 1926A. Christie Murder of R. Ackroyd iv. 33 What..is called a silver table, the lid of which lifts, and through the glass of which you can see the contents. 1975Country Life 10 Apr. Suppl. 48 j/1 (caption) A really fine Chippendale period silver table of superb quality.
1898Morris Austral Eng. 419 *Silver-tail, a bush term for a ‘swell’; a man who goes to the manager's house, not to the men's hut. 1908E. G. Murphy Jarrahland Jingles 116 And when they're playing billiards in their flannel tennis suits, We feel like heaving something at these silvertail galoots. 1947G. Casey Wits are Out ix. 125 ‘Mr Fleming doesn't build for basic-wage earners,’ Bill said nastily. ‘He hangs around waiting his chance to build for the silvertails.’ 1978Listener 9 Feb. 163/3 Mr Whitlam's enemies in his own Labor Party have called him a ‘silvertail’, meaning a social climber. 1979Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 11 Feb. 16/1 The Governor-General was, in the Premier's opinion, a super silvertail.
1890A. J. Vogan Black Police 116 Those upper circles..termed in Australian parlance ‘*silver-tailed’, in distinction to the ‘copper⁓tailed’ democratic classes. 1902Bladud 19 Feb. 14/2 During the Peninsular War the 61st were the ‘Silvertailed Dandies’, owing to the unusual amount of silver on the tails of the officers' coatees.
1921Daily Colonist (Victoria) 18 Mar. 9/4 A *silver tea will be held at the home of Mrs. H. Lloyd-Young..on Friday afternoon.
1770G. Cartwright Jrnl. 22 Dec. (1792) I. 73 There was a *silver thaw in the morning, and it rained freely: very mild weather all the rest of the day. 1860P. H. Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 3 A phenomenon I have often seen in the woods of the transatlantic countries named above, where it is familiarly called silver-thaw. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 626 Silver-thaw, the term for ice falling in large flakes from the sails and rigging, consequent on a frost followed suddenly by a thaw. 1891Standard 26 Dec. 3/3 A ‘silver thaw’ is the result of rain falling from a warmer current of air at some little distance above the earth.
1855J. Phillips Man. Geol. 193 Blue flats, *silver thread, and diamond ironstone.
1890American Naturalist 970 It is probable that these leaf-hoppers are responsible for much of the *silver⁓top.
1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekeeper (1778) 191 Observe you don't put too much sugar down at a time for a *silver web.
1845A. H. Clough in Ambarvalia (1849) 28 The *Silver Wedding! on some pensive ear..A silvery faint memorial music swells. 1861Queen Victoria Let. 13 Feb. in R. Fulford Dearest Child (1964) 307 You must promise to be with us for our silver wedding D.V. which will be in four years. 1862H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 417 note, ‘Silver’ and ‘Golden’ weddings are generally kept in the North. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkback 134 An old man on the verge of the silver-wedding he might have kept as Chancellor.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 92 Se sester sceal weᵹan twa pund be *sylfyr ᵹewyht. 13..Sir Beues 1725 For him a ȝaf seluer wiȝt, Er he þat hors haue miȝt.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 766 Hic auriglus, a *sylverwurme.
1700Wallace Acc. New Caledonia in Misc. Curiosa (1708) III. 421 He pretends it was to search for a *Silver Wreck.
b. In names of animals, insects, etc.; silverback, a mature male mountain gorilla, Gorilla gorilla beringei, distinguished by one or more patches of white or silvery hair just below the back of the neck; silver buckie (see quot. 1866); † silver fly (?); silver fox, (a) a North American variety of the red fox with black silver-tipped hairs, the black fox; also transf., the fur of this animal, esp. as a fashion item; (b) a fennec, Vulpes chama, found in southern Africa; silver gibbon, the silvery gibbon (Hylobates leuciscus); silver lady (see silver-fish 2); silver-line(s), a species of moth; silver-marmoset, -sprig (see quots.); silver-tip, a grizzly bear with white-tipped hairs; silver y (moth), the gamma moth.
Various other names of moths, as silver bar, silver cloud, silver fringe, silver ground, etc., are given by Rennie (1832).
1963G. B. Schaller Year of Gorilla viii. 221 He was a *silverback in the prime of life. 1975J. Goulet Human Ape (1977) i. 5 The old silverback was having trouble breathing.
1841Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 264 Our children call the shell *Silver-buckies or Silver-Willies. 1866Gregor Banffsh. Gloss., Siller-buckie, the Grey purple-streaked pyramid shell (Trochus cinerareus).
1668Charleton Onomast. 42 Herbivora Erinopteros,..the *Silver-fly.
1770G. Cartwright Jrnl. 30 Dec. (1792) I. 76 On Niger Sound we saw a good *silver fox. 1827Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 148 Canis Argentatus (Silver Fox). 1889John Bull 2 Mar. 150/1 Bordered..with silver-fox fur and lined with cream-coloured velvet. 1892T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 11/2 Three-quarter capes, quilted lined, trimmed silver fox, $4. 1893Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 559 The beautiful silver, or black fox,..is usually nearly or entirely black, with the exception of the tip of the tail, which is generally white. 1912J. Stevenson-Hamilton Anim. Life Afr. xv. 231 The Silver Fox (Vulpes chama)..is silvery-grey, the underneath parts being tawny in hue. 1936A. Christie ABC Murders xix. 143 [She] wears very lovely clothes. That crêpe marocain and the silver fox collar—dernier cri! 1940[see battle bowler s.v. battle n. 14]. 1972Stand. Encycl. S. Afr. VI. 170/2 The Cape or silver fox is found throughout the drier regions of South Africa.
1893Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 65 The grey or *silver gibbon, or wou-wou,..comes from the island of Java.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 155 The Green *Silver Lines. 1876Smiles Sc. Nat. vi. 102 The Cream⁓spot Tiger moth,..the Green Silver-line.
1893Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 192 The *silver marmoset of Brazil (Hapale chrysoleucus).
1799[A. Young] View Agric. Linc. 385 The sort [is] *silver sprig, which will not do well in other counties. 1800M. Edgeworth Moral T., The Will i, The true silver grey rabbits—silver sprigs, they call them—do you know that the skins of those silver sprigs are worth any money?
1886Turf, Field & Farm 26 Mar. 238/1 A *silver tip is bad enough when he's wounded, and about as active a bear as there is. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 70 The bear..was an old ‘silver-tip’, and a big one.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. Index, *Silver Y. 1848Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 329 The caterpillars of..Plusia Gamma (Silver Y Moth)..are of this description. 1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 65 The well-known Gamma Moth, or Silver Y.
c. In names of birds, as silver-bill, (a) any of several birds of the genus Munia; (b) a South American tyrant bird of the genus Lichenops; † silver bird, some East Indian bird; silver-dun, a particular breed of domestic pigeon; silver-eye, one of several birds of the genus Zosterops, distinguished by white rings round the eyes; silver-mealy, a breed of pigeon; silver pheasant (see quots. and pheasant 2); silver plover (see quots. and plover 2); silver-tongue U.S., the song-sparrow.
1883List Anim. Zool. Gardens 239 Munia malabarica, Indian *Silver-bill. Hab. India. Ibid., Munia cantans, African Silver-bill. Hab. North-east Africa. 1892W. H. Hudson La Plata 202, I have also seen gaucho boys catch the Silver-bill (Lichenops perspicillata) by hurling a stick or stone at the bird, then rushing at it.
1775Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 401 Some *silver birds.
1879L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 187 The *silver-duns are the aristocrats of the family.
1875*Silver-eye [see makomako1]. 1888Newton in Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 824/1 By most English-speaking people in various parts of the world the prevalent species of Zosterops is commonly called ‘White-eye’ or ‘Silver-eye’. 1911A. E. Mack Bush Days 2 You will hear a whole chorus of bird notes..calling all together—thrushes, thickheads, silvereyes and peewees. 1965[see blight-bird s.v. blight n.]. 1977Kuwait Times 23 Nov. 6/8 Three fell to Man, including a pigeon and a parrakeet. The rats have been responsible for at least five more (a thrush, a warbler, a fantail, a silvereye and a starling).
1879L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 149 Such kite-barred birds are termed ‘*silver-mealies’ by Scotch breeders.
1829Griffith tr. Cuvier VIII. 23 The *Silver Pheasants (Phasianus Nycthemerus). 1861C. P. Hodgson Resid. Japan 324 Silver pheasants come from Nambu, partridges from Sataki. 1876Nature XIV. 121/2 The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens..include a Silver Pheasant (Euplocamus nycthemerus). 1887Beldon in Wright Illustr. Bk. of Poultry 366 The Silver-spangled Hamburgh, or Silver Pheasant as it is commonly called in Yorkshire.
1899Dewar Hampsh. Highl. v. 130 The *silver plovers or lapwings..are to be seen and heard in every direction. 1899Dickinson & Prevost Cumbld. Gloss., Silver plover, the gray plover, Squatarola helvetica.
1884Coues N. Amer. Birds 371 Melospiza fasciata,..Song Sparrow. *Silver-Tongue.
d. In names of fishes, as silver-belly, bream, char, -eyes, garfish, king, lamprey, pike, salmon, -side(s), sole, -spot (see quots.); silver eel (see quots.); also, a young eel before the adult coloration is developed; silver trout N. Amer., any of several silvery trout, esp. Salmo gairdneri kamloops; also, = kokanee.
A number of other American, and some Australian, fishes are also designated in this way, as silver bass, silver cero, silver chub, silver hake, etc.: see Jordan & Gilbert Fishes N. Amer. (1882), Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. (1884) and Amer. Fishes (1888), Morris Austral English (1898).
1882J. E. Tenison-Woods Fishes N.S. Wales 43 It is necessary to cook the *silver-belly, as it is often called, perfectly fresh.
Ibid., Mr. Hill..speaks of a *silver-bream or white-bream. It is probable he refers to Gerres ovatus, a common fish of very compressed form. 1883E. P. Ramsay Food Fishes N.S. Wales 10 Gerres ovatus, a small but delicious fish, known to the fishermen as ‘silver bream’, ‘silver bellies’, &c.
1769Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 269 The two others were inscribed, the Red Charr, the *Silver or Gilt Charr.
1735Swift & Sheridan Let. 28 Nov. in Wks. J. Swift (1768) XIII. 143 For the rest, we are forced to take up with..*silver eels, and such trash. 1838Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 175 Anguilla latirostris,..the Broad-nosed Eel... In the Tweed..it is distinguished from the others by the name of Silver-Eel. 1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 910 note, This species [Trichiurus lepturus] is known as ‘Sabre-fish’ and ‘Silver Eel’, on the coast of Texas. 1952New Biol. XIII. 76 At the silver-eel stage..it is ready to descend the river again.
1880Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 35 These fishes are commonly known as sea-breams. One form termed *silver eyes is said to pursue small fishes in Cardigan Bay.
1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Bill-Fish (Belone truncata), a small sea-fish fond of running up into fresh water during the summer... Also called Sea-pike, *Silver Gar-fish.
1889Scribner's Mag. Aug. 164/1 No one..had fared any better than I as regards tarpon... No one could boast of having even hooked a ‘*Silver King’. 1894Cosmopolitan XVII. 31 You never have seen the equal of the silver-king—the grande coy—the tarpon.
1865Couch Brit. Fishes IV. 400 The *Silver Lamprey is always of less size than the ordinary dimensions of the Lampern. 1883Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 359 Petromyzon fluviatilis,..Lampern and silver lamprey.
1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. i. 109 *Silver Pike, Esox argenteus... Native of New Zealand and other islands in the Southern Ocean.
1878J. G. Brady Let. May in S. Jackson Alaska (1880) vii. 209 A *silver salmon, weighing thirty-eight to forty pounds, is sold for fifteen or twenty cents. 1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 307 Oncorhynchus kisutch, Silver Salmon. 1901Scotsman 26 Mar. 5/1 The silver salmon or coho..are freely taken by means of spinning.
1820C. S. Rafinesque in Western Rev. II. 240 *Silverside Fallfish... Vulgar names, Silverside, Shiner, [etc.]. 1851R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) viii. 88 The purer streams from the hills abound in..silver-sides. 1873T. Gill Catal. Fishes East N. Amer. 26 Cynoscion carolinensis.., spotted sea-trout..; spotted silver-sides. 1881Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 225 Smelt or sand smelt... A local name is silver-sides, from its colour. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v., The brook-silversides is a graceful little fresh-water fish, Labidesthes sicculus. 1911Rep. Fisheries 1908 (U.S.) 316/2 Some of the silversides (Atherinidæ) are wrongly called ‘smelts’. 1962K. F. Lagler et al. Ichthyology x. 284 In the brook silverside..there is a single elongate filament that serves first for temporary flotation. Ibid. xi. 373 Refractive errors change by several diopters during such measurements on schooling fishes, such as the silver-side (Menidia).
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 308 *Silver Sole, Pleuronectes Argenteus..; native of the Indian seas.
1865Couch Brit. Fishes IV. 300 The fishes of the family [Maurolicus] which we have denominated *Silver-Spots.
1873C. Hallock Fishing Tourist i. v. 30 To the above should be added the..brook-trout, the *silver-trout, and the..salmon-trout. 1907T. W. Lambert Fishing in Brit. Columbia 43 Every local fisherman speaks of having caught a red side or a silver trout, and firmly believes they are distinct species. 1937,1970Silver trout [see kokanee].
e. In names of plants or trees, as silver bell (tree), bennet, berry, birch, chain, chickweed, fern, -head, herb, knapweed, oak, pine (tree), thistle, wattle (see quots. and the various ns.); also silver beech, an evergreen tree, Nothofagus menziesii, native to New Zealand (cf. nothofagus); also, the timber of this tree; silver beet Austral. and N.Z., the seakale beet, Beta vulgaris; = chard2; silver poplar U.S. = white poplar s.v. poplar 1 b; silversword, a perennial herb, Argyroxiphium sandwicense, of the family Compositæ, native to Hawaii and bearing linear leaves with silvery hairs and clusters of purplish flowers; silver willow, a variety of the white willow, Salix alba var. sericea, distinguished by silvery foliage.
Some other names of this type, as silver feather, silver grass, silver hair-grass, silver lavender, are current in dialect or local use.
1889T. Kirk Forest Flora N.Z. 175 The *silver-beech..is known as ‘tawhai’ or ‘tawai’ by the Natives. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. July 8/3 Durability of..less than five years..Silver beech. 1966Encycl. N.Z. I. 177/2 Silver beech.., a tree with small, thick, double-toothed leaves and a cherry-like bark on the branches and young trees, reaches heights of about 100 ft.
1882Garden 15 Apr. 256/1 The *Silver or Seakale Beet is grown for the sake of the midribs of the leaves. 1915N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 20 Jan. 75 Early in February is a good time to sow silver-beet. 1951J. Frame Lagoon 98 For dinner I had semolina and silver beet. 1973Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 18 Feb. 2/4 Their hulls loaded down with taro, yams, chinese cabbage (rather like silver beet) and bananas. 1977N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 2–2/1 The novelty value of spaghetti bolognaise can often get over the hurdle of the silverbeet hidden in the sauce.
1785H. Marshall Arbustrum Americanum 57 *Silver-Bell Tree... The Corolla is of one petal, bell'd and bellied. 1831Audubon Ornith. Biog. I. 123 The Snow-Drop Tree, Silver-Bell Tree, or Wild Olive. 1847Darlington Amer. Weeds (1860) 218 The Halesia, or Silver Bell, two species of which..are common in cultivation. 1880Bessey Bot. 505 Halesia tetraptera, the Silver-Bell or Snow-Drop Tree of the Southern United States.
1750W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. I. ii. 79 Black and *Silver Bennets.
1856A. Gray Man. Bot. (1860) 381 Elæagnus argentea,..the *Silver-Berry, may perhaps be found within our northwestern limits.
1884Contemp. Rev. Aug. 334 It is here that the finest specimens of *silver birch are to be found.
1847Halliw., *Silver-chain, the white laburnum.
1856A. Gray Man. Bot. (1860) 62 Paronychia argyrocoma. *Silver Chickweed.
1858A. Irvine Brit. Plants 176 Gymnogramma. This genus is..distinguished by a yellow or white powdery substance, [and] hence called Gold and *Silver Ferns. 1889Chambers's Encycl. IV. 590/2 Gymnogramme,..of which G. chrysophylla and G. tartarea, both West Indian, are cultivated as the Golden Fern and Silver Fern.
1890Cent. Dict. s.v. Paronychia, P. argyrocoma, the silver chickweed, or, as recently named, *silverhead.
1611Cotgr., Tanaisie sauvage, Wild Tansie, *Siluer hearbe.
1597Gerarde Herbal 591 The great *siluer knapweed hath at his first comming vp diuers leaues spred vpon the grounde, of a deepe greene colour.
1889J. H. Maiden Useful Pl. 220 Stenocarpus salignus,..‘*Silver Oak’.
1694Phil. Trans. XVII. 664 [The tree] brought from the Cape of Good-hope, where it is called the *Silver Pine. Ibid. 665 The Silver Pine-Tree.
1847W. Darlington Agric. Bot. 332 *Silver Poplar... Some of the grass-plats in the public squares of New York have been quite over-run by the wide-spreading suckers of this tree. 1880Bessey Bot. 173 A branch of the Silver Poplar.
1888W. Hillebrand Flora of Hawaiian Islands 219 The ‘Ahinahina’ of the natives and ‘*Silversword’ of the foreigners. 1937Discovery Mar. 83 Not the least puzzling of the specialised animal and plant species of the Hawaiian Islands is the six-foot Silver⁓sword flower. 1965P. Wylie They Both were Naked ii. vi. 302 A silver-sword plant..grows only on a few high places on two islands [of Hawaii].
1578Lyte Dodoens 526 *Silver Thistel. This Thistel is called in..Englishe..Wilde white Thistell, and Argentine.
1859D. Bunce Trav. Dr. Leichhardt iii. 19 We camped among the butts of the Acacia affinis, or *silver wattle. 1874Treas. Bot. 1229/1 *Silver Wattle, Acacia mollissima. Silver Wattle of Tasmania, Acacia dealbata. 1884Cassell's Fam. Mag. Apr. 271/1 The beautiful cool grey-green of the silver wattle.
1914W. J. Bean Trees & Shrubs Hardy in Brit. Isles II. 475 *Silver Willow.—This is the most striking of all the forms of S[alix] alba in the intense silvery hue of its leaves. 1976Country Life 18 Mar. 682/3 A group of silver willows..are annually pollarded.
▸ silver surfer n.with punning allusion to Silver Surfer, the superhero of a 1960s Marvel comic book; compare sense B. 5b colloq. an elderly or retired person who uses the Internet.
1997Progressive Grocer June 9/1 *Silver surfers: Senior citizens are the latest generation of consumers to qualify as diehard Net browsers. 2004D. Perrons Globalisation & Social Change vi. 184 Users vary from silver surfers planning holidays..[to] children and teenagers chatting, downloading music and playing games.
▪ II. silver, v.|ˈsɪlvə(r)|
Forms: 5 cilueryn, sylveryn, 6 sylver, 6–7 siluer, 7– silver; also 9 Sc. siller.
[f. the n. Cf. G. silbern, versilbern, Du. verzilveren.]
1. trans. To cover or plate with silver; to coat with silver-leaf. Freq. with over.
c1440Promp. Parv. 456/1 Sylveryn, argento. 1530Palsgr. 718/1, I wyll sylver the hafte of my dagger thorowe out. a1540Barnes Wks. (1573) 343/2 Their stockes be polished of the carpenter, and they bee gilded & siluered. 1601Holland Pliny II. 517 They haue taken vp of late another custome, to siluer the trappings especially and caparisons of their horses of seruice. 1611Cotgr., Argenter, to siluer ouer; to gild, or couer with siluer. 1669Pepys Diary 30 Apr., My coach..is silvered over, but no varnish yet laid on. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. App. s.v. Silvering, Rub with this mixture the metal you want to silver. 1842Francis Dict. Arts s.v., Copper may be silvered over by rubbing it with the following powder. 1892Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 191 There ain't enough in this vein to silver a tea-pot.
absol.1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., Metal-Gilders silver by the Fire: Painter-Gilders, all the other Ways.
fig.1839–52Bailey Festus 433 Stay thy pretty little tuneful tongue, Nor silver o'er thy syllables. They will not Pass.
b. To coat (glass) at the back with a mixture of tinfoil and quicksilver, esp. for use as a mirror.
1635[Glapthorne] Lady Mother i. ii, This glasse Is falsly silverd, maks me look as gray As if I were four score. 1753Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 287 Leaf tin, such as they use in silvering looking-glasses, is best to coat them with. c1790J. Imison Sch. Arts II. 7 After this method common window glass, &c. may be silvered. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 412/1 The amalgam of tin is largely used in what is termed silvering mirrors. 1879Newcomb & Holden Astron. 93 The horizon-glass is divided into two parts, of which the lower one is silvered.
2. To invest or suffuse with a silvery hue or lustre.
1594–9Greene Orlando Furioso 1178 Is not..Her face siluer'd like to the milke white shape That Ioue came dauncing in to Semele? 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ix. viii, In azure arms, Silver'd with starres, and gilt with sunnie rayes. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche xxii. ccxv, Venus whose pure lustre silvers Night. 1725Pope Odyss. x. 108 Smiling calmness silver'd o'er the deep. 1797–1805S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. I. 362 The moon in full splendour silvered the wood on one side. 1822Byron Juan vii. vii, While she still silvers o'er your gloomy path. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxviii. (1856) 230 It silvered the hummocks and frozen leads, and gave a softened lustre to the snow. 1900Westm. Gaz. 21 Mar. 10/1 A few kelts, silvered by a short trip to the sea, have been taken.
b. To turn (the hair, beard, etc.) white or silvery.
1602Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 242 His Beard was..A Sable Siluer'd. 1725Pope Odyss. xi. 429 Sage Echeneus, whose grave, rev'rend brow The hand of time had silver'd o'er with snow. 1784Cowper Task ii. 703 His head Not yet by time completely silver'd o'er. 1825Scott Betrothed xv, She who mocks the gray hairs of a parent, never shall one of her own locks be silvered with age! 1870Disraeli Lothair xxxii, Thought, not time, had partially silvered the clustering of his raven hair.
c. In pa. pple. Shaded off with silver.
1902Fur & Feather 19 Sept. 229/1 Feet, ears, and face, nicely silvered off;..grand undercolour, well silvered off.
3. intr.
a. To flow with a silvery gleam.
1807J. Barlow Columb. i. 652 And bason'd high..The bright Superior silvers down the day. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 75 While underneath their mingling grains, The river silver'd down the plains.
b. To take on a silvery lustre; to fade away in this manner.
1878W. H. Mallock New Republic iv, The moon was rising over the sea, and the sea was slowly silvering under it. 1890R. Bridges Shorter Poems iii. 15 The darkness silvers away, the morn doth break. |