| 释义 |
Southdown|ˈsaʊθdaʊn|
Also South Down, South-down.
[See def.]
1. One of a breed of sheep, noted for its short, fine wool and for the good quality of its mutton, originally reared on the South Downs of Sussex and Hampshire. Chiefly in pl.
1787Young's Ann. Agric. VIII. 199 The South Downs..are, for that point, the best short-woolled sheep which I know in England. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 99 The Leicester and Southdowns afford the best mutton⁓chops. 1883Science I. 314/1 An experiment with two mature sheep, a southdown and a merino.
2. This breed of sheep. Chiefly with the.
1827Griffith tr. Cuvier IV. 340 The South Down have gray faces and legs, fine bones, long small necks. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 99 When the piece is large, as of Southdown or Cheviot. 1885Bowman Struct. Wool Fibre 85 The Shropshire Speckle-faced Sheep is a cross breed between the original horned sheep and the Southdown.
3. ellipt. Mutton from this breed of sheep.
1826B. R. Haydon Let. 18 Aug. in Autobiogr. & Mem. (1927) xxiv. 331 His sly hints as I passed his shop that he had ‘a bit of South Down, very fine’. 1859Lever Davenport Dunn xxxvi, His curdiest salmon declined, his wonderful ‘south-down’ sent away scarcely tasted.
4. attrib., as Southdown breed, Southdown ewe, Southdown sheep, Southdown wether, Southdown wool.
(a)1822Cobbett Pol. Reg. 11 May 336 Offered 17 shillings instead of 37 shillings a-head for his South Down Ewes. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 357/2 The average dead⁓weight of the South Down wether varies from 8 to 11 stones. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. p. xxvi, The hardiness of the Southdown breed. 1861Times 11 July, Webb's celebrated flock of Southdown sheep.
(b)1828in Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1842) II. 106 The low-priced foreign wools do sell at about the same rate as South Down wool. 1885Bowman Struct. Wool Fibre 251 A fair illustration of pure Southdown wool.
Hence south-downer.
1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 226, I prefer a chop to any thing,..Particularly a real south-downer. |