释义 |
coaster|ˈkəʊstə(r)| Also 7 coster. [f. coast v. + -er.] 1. One who sails along the coast; the master or pilot of a coasting-vessel.
1574Bourne Regiment for Sea 7 b, It behoveth him too be a good coaster. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 341/1, I give the Name both of Pilot and Coaster to one Man..A bare Pilot serves only for the Port he is hired for. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 12 Long it was ere the trembling coasters were certain whether Britain was an island or a continent. fig.1670Dryden Tyrranick Love iv. i, In our small Skiff we must not launch too far; We here but Coasters, not Discov'rers, are. 1691–8Norris Pract. Disc. (1707) IV. 189 Some are but Coasters in this great Sea (the World). 2. A vessel employed in sailing along the coast, or in trading from port to port of the same country. (The usual modern sense.)
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2266/2 The small Coasters having Orders not to stir out, till the way be cleared for them. 1707Ibid. No. 4317/2 Her Majesty's Ship the Pool, having under her Convoy several Coasters. 1801Nelson in Nicolas Disp. 11 Aug. (1845) IV. 453 Every Fishing Smack and Coaster gives one Man. 1840R. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii. 74 His father was a skipper of a small coaster, from Bristol. 3. a. One who dwells by the sea coast.
1612tr. Benvenuto's Passenger (N.), You never saw, nor heard any, or English man, or other coaster, or river man, or ilander, use more malicious inventions. 1615Trade's Incr. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 308 Coasters, that give away our coin to the stranger for our own fish. 1888Daily News 17 July 5/3 The cocoanut and the cabbage palm grow wild, though the pampered Gold Coasters despise them. b. A resident of West Africa of European origin. c. N.Z. One who lives on, or comes from, the West Coast of the South Island.
1898G. MacDonald Gold Coast iii. 65 To ‘Old Coasters’ this breeze is very welcome. 1902W. African Year Bk. 28 Old Coasters generally induce perspiration by a drink of hot weak tea. 1907J. Drummond Life R. J. Seddon xxi. 349 [Seddon's] good wife (who shared the love of all Coasters, with her husband). 1914M. Hall Woman in Antipodes xii. 102 Another of his stories was of an old coaster. 1926[see coast n. 4 c]. 1935G. Greene Basement Room 5 Old Coasters..call all food chop. 1936― Journey without Maps i. ii. 25 There was the Coast... People said, ‘Eldridge. Of course, he's an old Coaster.’.. There was no other Coast but the West Coast. 1941Baker N.Z. Slang v. 44 Coaster, for a resident of [the West Coast of the South Island]..is also well known. d. U.S. A bovine animal reared near the coast of Texas. Also coaster horn.
1890Stock Grower (Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.) 19 Apr. 7/2 There are lots of big old-fashioned ‘coaster’ horns among them. 1902Rep. Kansas Stage Board Agric. 1901–2, 154 Horns of the old Texas coaster. 1929J. F. Dobie Vaquero 20 The ‘coasters’, or ‘sea lions’, as people sometimes called the longhorned cattle of the coast country, could swim like ducks and were as wild. 1935Amer. Speech X. 270/1 Coasters, Texas cattle raised in areas near the Gulf of Mexico. †4. One who visits or lands on a coast. Obs.
1660G. Fleming Stemma Sacrum 17 Inquilini, or Intruders, are no other than Coasters or Adventurers, that are sent forth into a Nation to sack and spoile. fig.1719D'Urfey Pills V. 349 Old Coasters, Love boasters, who set up for Truth. †5. (See quot.) Obs.
1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 312/1 A Coaster [is] a Keeper of a Decoy, or place to catch wild Fowl. 6. Formerly, a low round tray or stand for a decanter (usually of silver); now used generally for any small, usu. round, tray or mat on which a bottle or glass, etc., may stand. (See also quot. 1890.) So called from ‘coasting’ or making the circuit of the table after dinner.
c1887Catal. Mallet & Son (Bath) 13 Two choicely pierced coasters. 1888M. Deland John Ward (ed. 2) 113 The decanters in the queer old coasters. 1890Stratford on Avon Herald 24 Oct. 6/1 Next to spoons old silver coasters are the mania of the day... They are made to do duty as stands for ink-bottles and pincushions; flowerglasses raise their heads from coasters... The homely little brown jugs of Surrey cream come upstairs set in coasters, and..the coasters offer chocolate creams. 1951M. Sharp Lise Lillywhite xv. 132 Martin observed her beer-mug making a ring and automatically put it on a coaster. 1959N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 96 She had picked up a coaster for a highball glass. 7. U.S. a. One engaged in the sport of ‘coasting’. and b. A sledge or toboggan for ‘coasting’.
1870L. M. Alcott Old-Fashioned Girl iii. 34 The coasters were at it with all their might... Some little girls were playing with their sleds. 1881Our Little Ones 72 To-morrow the hills All over the town Will be lively with coasters That race up and down. 1888Pall Mall G. 8 Sept. 4/1 The Roller Coaster at the Crystal Palace has had a bad accident. 1888Sat. Rev. 22 Sept. 340/1 Roller coasters, switchback railways, toboggan slides, are all prodigiously popular. 1943M. Flavin Journey in Dark 17 Tom had a coaster—a long, low, sleek one, with shiny runners anchored to the frame. c. A rest for the foot used when coasting on a bicycle.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 555/2 Steering fork—Cold drawn steel tubing, with..adjustable nickeled coasters. 1897Outing (U.S.) Feb. 463/2 Having gleefully perched my feet up on the coasters, I..shot forward like an arrow. d. = roller coaster s.v. roller n.1 25. U.S.
1910Sat. Even. Post 9 July 5/1 Ten years ago, if a coaster ‘dropped’ ten feet, it was a ‘thriller’. 1984New Yorker 16 Apr. 41/1 This coaster, besides having a great history—it was the coaster in the first Cinerama movie—is a great ride. 8. A loafer, sundowner. Austral. slang.
1878‘R. Boldrewood’ Ups & Downs viii. 75 A voluble, good-for-nothing, loafing impostor, a regular ‘coaster’. 1945Baker Austral. Lang. v. 102 The scowbanker or skullbanker, coaster, sundodger..were other vagabonds who loafed in the outback or drifted from station to station. |