| 释义 |
ˈsnow-bird
Also snow bird, snowbird.
[f. snow n.1 Cf. Du. sneeuwvogel, G. schneevogel.]
1. One or other of various small European or American birds, esp. the snow-bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), snow-finch (Montifringilla nivalis), or snow-sparrow (Junco hiemalis).
In the first group of quotations there is some indication of the precise bird intended.
(a)1688Phil. Trans. XVII. 996 The Snow-bird which I take to be much the same with our Hedge Sparrow; this is so called because it seldom appears about Houses but against Snow or very cold Weather. 1709J. Lawson Hist. Carolina 146 The Snow-Birds are most numerous in the North Parts of America, where there are great Snows... They are like the Stones Smach, or Wheat-Ears. 1750G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds III. Pl. 126 The Snow-Bird from Hudson's-Bay. This Bird..agrees exactly in Size and Shape with our great Pyed Mountain-Finch, or Brambling. 1771J. R. Forster tr. Kalm's Trav. II. 81 The Swedes call a species of little birds, Snofogel, and the English call it Snow-bird. 1802Montagu Ornith. s.v. Bunting, Snow, Snow-bird. Snow-flake. 1810A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. II. 129 Snow-Bird, Fringilla nivalis. Ibid. 131 The Snow-bird is six inches long, and nine in extent. 1839Audubon Syn. Birds N. Amer. 106 Niphæa, Snow-Bird. Ibid. 107 Niphæa Oregona, Oregon Snow-Bird. 1853Kane Grinnell Exped. xli. (1856) 379 Crowds of little snow-birds (Emberiza and Plectrophanes), with white breasts and jetty coverts. 1884Coues N. Amer. Birds 377 Junco, Snow Sparrows. Snow-birds. Ibid., Junco hiemalis,..Eastern Snow-bird. Black Snow-bird.
(b)1798Miss H. M. Williams Tour Switzerland II. App. 293 Her sledgy-car..O'er the pellucid ice her snow⁓birds drew. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Regions I. 535 The snow-bird, though so delicate in its appearance, is almost as ravenous as the fulmar. 1841Bryant Poems, Winter-Piece 30 The snow-bird twitter'd on the beechen bough. 1880W. Newton Serm. for Boys (1881) 358 The little snow-birds seem to enjoy it all. 1883Cent. Mag. Sept. 681 From the first nest..to the last, which was that of a snow-bird.
2. The ivory gull, Pagophila eburnea.
1831Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 470 Snow Bird, (Larus eburneus). 1843Yarrell Brit. Birds III. 449 Larus candidus, The Snow-bird.
3. U.S. slang. One who sniffs cocaine (cf. snow n.1 5 d); gen. a drug addict.
1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 78 A ‘snowbird’ is the customary designation of the cocaine habitue. 1923[see loaded ppl. a. 3 b]. 1952Sunday Times 3 Feb. 5/4 Present-day New York is not..a city overrun by ‘snowbirds’ jabbing needles into their arms. 1963‘M. Corrigan’ Why do Women—? xxiii. 175 Don't tell me you never heard that name for a dope addict—a snowbird.
4. U.S. slang.
a. (See quots.)
1905N.Y. Even. Post 20 Nov. 6, 28 per cent. deserted after three months, and were presumably ‘snow-birds’, that is, men who enlist to get food and clothing during the winter months. 1918Sat. Even. Post 23 Nov. 11/1 They belonged to a shiftless class, the members of which often enlist in the army late in the fall because they want a job for the winter—the boys call them snowbirds. 1930W. H. Waldron Old Sergeant's Conferences vii. 123 A ‘Snow bird’ is a deserter who surrenders in the fall to get a place to stay through the winter.
b. (See quot. 1924.)
1923Nation 31 Oct. 487 In winter, when building is at a standstill in the North, northern workmen, ‘snow birds’ or ‘white doves’ in Negro parlance, flock south. 1924‘Digit’ Confessions 20th Century Hobo 12 Snowbird, in the Southern States a Northerner who migrates south to avoid the winter. 1962Economist 22 Dec. 1206/1 The Negro, who regularly loses his job to the ‘snowbirds’ from New York in the winter holiday season. 1979United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 243 This figure swells..during the winter months when ‘snowbirds’ arrive. (‘Snowbird’ is a tricky term as used in Miami, it refers primarily to tourists escaping the Northeastern freeze.)
5. colloq. A person who likes snow; a snow-sports enthusiast.
1928D. H. Lawrence Let. in F. Lawrence Not I (1934) 269, I am no snow-bird, I hate the stark and shroudy whitemen, white and black. 1973Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Dec. 43/8 No joy yet for snowbirds. Snow enthusiasts will have to wait at least one more week before they can start up their snow-mobile engines or put on their skis. |