释义 |
▪ I. solitaire, n.|ˈsɒlɪtɛə(r), sɒlɪˈtɛə(r)| [a. F. solitaire, ad. L. sōlitārius solitary n. and a.] 1. A person who lives in seclusion, solitude, or retirement; a recluse.
1716Pope Lett. (1735) I. 153 How often..one Evening of your Conversation has spoil'd me for a Solitaire! 1764H. Walpole Corr. (1891) IV. 296 You see I am likely to totter into a solitaire at three-score. 1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) II. 111 The graceful solitaire there was already acquainted with the misfortune. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. x, Oh! you are here, Mr. Grey, acting the solitaire in the park! 1859E. Capern Ballads & Songs 140 There I could dwell a studious solitaire. 2. A precious stone, usually a diamond, set by itself. Also ellipt., a solitaire ring.
a1727Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) I. 71 To give me the solitaires, which are at last arrived. 1760Foote Minor 11, Many an aigrette and solitaire have I sold, to discharge a lady's play-debt. 1832Marryat N. Forster liii, This diamond solitaire that's..upon my finger. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6181, Shirt studs, sleeve links, clasps, solitaires. 1886R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) I. p. vii, I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of the western firmament. attrib.1836Marryat Japhet lviii, A diamond solitaire ring, which I had intended to have left with my other bijouterie. 1840― Olla Podr. (Rtldg.) 239 The ring..was a splended solitaire diamond. 3. A game which can be played by one person: a. One of various kinds of card-games. b. A game played on a board with marbles or pegs, which have to be removed by jumping as in draughts.
1746H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 165 Has Miss Harriet found out any more ways at solitaire? 1825Bentham Ration. Reward 209 As the amusement of a minister of state,..a more suitable one might be found than a game at solitaire. 1850Bohn's Handbk. Games (1867) 556 It is, in fact, a sort of solitaire for each player in turn. 1891Gosse Gossip Libr. viii. 95 Like the boards on which people play the game of solitaire. attrib.1851Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 17, I am moreover told that in the same second-hand calling were boards known as ‘solitaire-boards’. 1873Routledge's Young Gentl. Mag. Jan. 118/2 A ball belonging to a solitaire-board. 4. A loose neck-tie of black silk or broad ribbon worn by men in the 18th century.
1731Gentl. Mag. I. 321 We have brought home the French Coifure, the Robe de Chambre of the Women, and Toupé and Solitaire of the Men. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 596 The beau, almost throttled in a large solitaire,..was thought to appear most charming. 1805W. Cooke Foote II. 6 He exhibited a full dress suit, bag wig and solitaire, sword, muff, rings, &c. c1839T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. (Colburn) 15 A gentleman dressed in a peach-coloured velvet coat, with..a solitaire round his neck. [1882Gosse Gray 28 He ties a vast solitaire around his neck.] 5. Ornith. a. A large flightless bird (Pezophaps solitarius) formerly existing in the island of Rodriguez. Cf. solitary n. 3.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VI. 20/1 The solitaire, or solitary dodo, is a large bird. 1863Dana Man. Geol. 578 The Solitaire is another exterminated bird of the same island. 1896Newton Dict. Birds 892 Perhaps no species has had its osteology examined on so great a scale as the Solitaire. b. A Jamaican bird (Myiodectes solitarius).
1847Gosse Birds Jamaica 205 As far as I know, the food of the Solitaire is exclusively berries. 1860― Rom. Nat. Hist. 18 The lengthened flute-like notes..of the solitaire. 6. A solitary beast of chase.
1900Pollok & Thom Sports Burma iii. 96 Sportsmen following up a wounded solitaire [sc. a gaur] have occasionally been killed. 7. attrib. Intended for one person only.
1885Pall Mall G. 15 May 4/1 A variety of painted tea sets and solitaire breakfast sets. ▪ II. † solitaire, -are, a. Obs. Forms: α. 4 solitare (5 sola-); Sc. 5–7 solitare (6 sole-), 6 solitar, soliter(e, solyter. β. 4–5, 7 solitaire, 5 solytayr, 6 solitair. [a. OF. (also mod.F.) solitaire or ad. L. sōlitārius: see solitary a.] Solitary, in various senses. α1382Wyclif Ps. ci. 8, I..am maad as a spare solitare in the rof. c1440Alph. Tales 444 When þai hafe bene awhile in solatare place be þer ane. c1475Henryson Poems (S.T.S.) III. 33 Quhen he saw þis lady solitar. 1530Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 956 Quhow lang, traist ȝe, those ladyis sall remane So solyter, in sic perfectioun? 1533Bellenden Livy i. viii. (S.T.S.) I. 49 Numa frequentit oft tymes in þis wod, solitare and but ony cumpany. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas i. 796 How coms't thir costs thow solitare dost range? β1387Trevisa tr. Higden VI. 109 An holy man þat was solitaire. c1450Knt. de La Tour 124 She made a chaumbre solitaire for this holy man. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 192/2 He no thynge desyred so moche as for to accomplysshe commaundementes solytayrs. 1549Compl. Scotl. Prol. 9 He vas neiuyr les solitair as quhen he aperit to be solitair. 1569Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 39 He to be solitair, the nobill men..being for the maist part absent. 1647H. More Song of Soul ii. App. 93 Ne further may my wary mind assent From one single experience solitaire. |