| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈskitter, n.1 Chiefly Sc. and dial.
Also 9 dial. skitta.
[f. the vb.]
1. Diarrhœa; looseness or laxity of the bowels. Now freq. in pl. (Also colloq.)
a1585Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 244 To heale thee of thy skitter. 1823–in dialect glossaries (Sc., Yks., Lanc., Linc., Suff.). 1939J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xxii. 431 They et green grapes. They all five got the howlin' skitters. Run out ever' ten minutes. 1940M. Marples Public School Slang 159 Skitters, squitters, diarrhœa. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 180 Squitters, skitters, a symptom of dysentery and other stomach troubles.
2. Thin excrement. Also Comb.
1692Sc. Presbyt. Eloq. (1738) 118 A Cake unturn'd, that is, it's stone-hard on one Side, and skitter raw on the other. 1721Kelly Sc. Prov. 16 A Spoonful of Skitter will spill [= spoil] a Potful of Skink.
▪ II. ˈskitter, n.2
[f. skitter v.2]
A light scampering or skipping movement or the sound caused by this.
1905Scribner's Mag. July 1 The slim shell trailed with dying headway to the skitter of the resting oars. 1959E. Allen Man who chose Death xiii. 130 A quick skitter of footsteps like mice in the rafters. 1961S. Bunce No Sainted City xxiii. 170 A confusion of sounds. A skitter of light footfalls.
▪ III. ˈskitter, v.1 Sc. and dial.
Also 4 skiter-, 5 skyter-.
[A frequentative of skite v.1]
intr. To void thin excrement. Hence ˈskittering vbl. n.1 and ppl. a.1
13..Langtoft's Chron. (Rolls) II. 252 Skiterende Scottes, Telle i for sottes, And wrecches unwar. a1585Montgomerie Flyting 499 It skittered and skarted; they skirled ilk ane. c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 14 Seeing there was but a Skittering Lass between him and the Crown. 1683Yorkshire Dial. 5 Thur Yowes are Clow-clagg'd, they skitter sayr. 1721Kelly Prov. 20 A skittering Cow in the Loan would ay have many Marrows. 1825–in dialect glossaries (Northumb., Cumb., Yks., Som., Dev.).
transf.1682Martindale in Houghton Coll. Lett. Impr. Husb. No. 11, Some, when the strength of Marle is worn out by long Tillage, strengthen it with a new Supply, but then they ordinarily set it thin (which they call skittering).
▪ IV. ˈskitter, v.2
Also skither.
[app. a frequentative f. skite v.2]
1. a. intr. To move or run rapidly; to hurry about; to scamper off. Freq. with advbs.
1845S. Judd Margaret (1871) 149 On they flew, skittering, bowling, sluice-like, mad-like. 1875Toxie, a Tale I. vi. 100 Neither did he and I skitter at sixty miles an hour. 1882Blackmore Christowell lii, Up on the first horse we could lay hold of, and skittered on the heels of the rest of them. 1903Kipling in Windsor Mag. Sept. 363/2 She skittered about in the bracken, being a 'citable child. 1922H. Quick Vandemark's Folly viii. 143, I remembered..how she had skithered back to the carriage. 1929S. Leacock Iron Man v. 205 When we drive the ball..skithers off sideways. 1935M. Eberhart Cases of S. Dare 64 The monkey darted out from under the sofa and was suddenly skittering across the room again. 1946C. McCullers Member of Wedding iii. 178 Frances watched the Portuguese who..played a mock piano on the counter to the music-box tune. He swayed as he played and his fingers skittered up and down the counter. 1949B. Marshall To Every Man a Penny xlix. 151 The limousines, the taxicabs, the lorries and the buses roared round the church, skittering away to Neuilly, Auteuil and Montmartre. 1968B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 57 The boys began to swallow their Adam's apples, their eyes skittering about in still heads. 1976Church Times 26 Nov. (Bk. Suppl.) p. iv/2 He skittered through a fantastic mass of scientific evidence for the scarcely believable and downright unbelievable. 1977Meanjin (Austral.) XXXVI. i. 68, I skither down barefeet first. 1977Listener 17 Feb. 215/3 Not only is the tenor-saxophonist playing his usualy devious game but..Basie is joining in... Both men skittering around the melody line in high good humour. 1977New Yorker 24 Oct. 33/1, I found, skittering in nervous computer printout across the bottom of my bill, the words ‘Thank you very much for your prompt payment’.
b. To skip or skim along a surface, with occasional rapid contact. Also with other advbs. and advb. phrases. orig. dial.
1847J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provincial Words II. 750 A countryman who was leading me up a steep hill, when we came to a place which was inaccessible, said ‘We had better skitter under here, and it won't be so steep.’ (Kent). 1885T. Roosevelt Hunting Trips 56 Some kinds of ducks in lighting strike the water with their tails first, and skitter along the surface for a few feet before settling down. 1904Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 483/1 Leeak at mah scoperil, hoo it skithers across teeable. 1931W. Faulkner Sanctuary xxv. 298 A second man flew out and skittered along the floor on his back. 1951J. C. Fennessy Sonnet in Bottle ii. i. 40 The little whitish-silver flying fish skittering over the ship's bow wave. 1956C. Evans Kanchenjunga xii. 121 Fragments of snow kept skittering down the slope and bombarding the tent. 1969New Yorker 12 Apr. 127/1 The astronauts will start back to the LM—first tossing the universal handling tool..across the black mare, where it may skitter to rest inside a small crater. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 21/7 His long blast was deflected by defenseman Jim McKenny's glove and skittered past a surprised Bruce Gamble in goal who was moving the opposite way to cover. 1978M. Puzo Fools Die ii. 15 He was tired of the glittering red dice skittering across green felt.
2. a. trans. U.S. In angling, to draw (a spoon-bait or hook) with a jerking or skipping motion over the surface of the water. Also absol.
1883Cent. Mag. July 383/2 The angler, standing in the bow, ‘skitters’ or skips the spoon or bait over the surface just at the edge of the weeds. 1897Outing XXX. 221 In skittering with a spoon, some of the fly-fisher's skill..comes into play.
b. In various senses, with reference to the impartation of a rapid or sliding motion (see quots.).
1902Kipling Just So Stories 61 Let's say things to the bunnies, and watch 'em skitter their tails! 1907Harper's Mag. Feb. 460 The younger boy skittered rocks at a chicken-hawk. 1919J. Masefield Reynard 112 The great hooves skittered The Blood Brook's shallows to sheets that glittered. 1968A. Diment Bang Bang Birds ii. 22 She produced a 6 × 4 glossy..and skittered it across the desk to me. 1972M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha i. 54 Edgar Gear blinked and skittered his hand through his hair.
Hence ˈskittered ppl. a.; ˈskittering vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2
1883Cent. Mag. July 383/2 Skittering..is practised with a strong line..to which is affixed a small trolling-spoon. a1888in Goode Amer. Fishes 37 When taken with a skittered minnow or bright fly on a light rod. 1893M. Gray Last Sentence ii. viii, The skittering feet and minute shriek of mice. |