| 释义 |
▪ I. spec, n.1 colloq. and slang (orig. U.S.).|spɛk|
[Short for speculation; orig. American, but in English use from c 1825.]
1. a. A commercial speculation or venture.
Freq. with qualifying adj. as bad, good.
1794J. Adams Wks. (1856) I. 469 Many merchants have already made a noble spec. of the embargo by raising their prices. 1819W. Faux Mem. Days Amer. (1823) 37 By way of turning a penny, or as they say, of making a good spec. of it. 1824in Spirit Public Jrnls. (1825) 204 And the Hunts—a bad spec.,..Have published some posthumous trash of Byshe Shelly. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 378, I have already sold enough to pay me well enough for my spec. 1872A. H. Hutchinson Try Cracow (ed. 2) v. 93 A Prussian banker..who purchased the property..as a kind of spec to form into a limited company.
transf.1829in Knapp Life G. Borrow (1899) I. 140 Do not enter the army; it is a bad spec. 1855Delamer Kitchen Garden (1861) 177 Sow a few dwarf kidney beans as a spec.
b. on spec, on the chance of obtaining some advantage, gaining some profit, etc. In recent use more generally, as a gamble, on the off chance.
1832Marryat N. Forster xlvi, Both..came out on spec. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, They said what a wery gen'rous thing it was o' them to have taken up the case on spec. 1857Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxv, If tradesmen will run up houses on spec in a water-meadow, who can stop them? 1928R. Campbell Wayzgoose ii. 36 Some came on spec and others came on bikes. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxv. 256 He never tries anywhere on spec., and never does more than two houses a night. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 178 The third book bought on that same day was bought on spec. 1978New York 3 Apr. 36/3 Franklin Thomas remembers starting the center on spec with an analysis that projected a 50–50 chance of succeeding. 1981B. Hines Looks & Smiles 197 ‘Is he expecting you?’ ‘No, we just came on spec.’
2. Winchester School slang. A good or enjoyable thing or occasion. Also on spec.
1891Wrench Winch. Wordbk. (1901) s.v.
▪ II. spec, n.2 U.S. slang.
[Short for spectacle n.1 or spectacular n.]
a. In a circus: (see quot. 1926).
b. An elaborate and expensive television show.
1926Amer. Speech I. 283/1 Spec., the opening spectacle, or grand entry. 1949New Yorker 5 Nov. 61 Mrs. Webster rode an elephant in the ‘spec’. 1959G. Marx Let. 7 Dec. in Groucho Lett. (1967) 268 Our little play..could possibly be done as a TV spec.
▪ III. spec, n.3 colloq.
[Short for specification.]
A detailed working description; a standard of manufacture or construction. Also transf. Freq. pl.
1956Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Oct. 20/2 Belle was not only a perfect secretary..she also had personal specs which would have delighted Praxiteles. 1966Aviation Week & Space Technology 5 Dec. 5/3 (Advt.), The reliability requirements are, in many cases, virtually unbelievable. Seemingly, a unit built to these kinds of specs would almost have to work perfectly forever. 1976J. Carroll Madonna Red (1977) i. 30 The 707 spec sheets she had memorised..at the Black September training camp. 1979Amat. Photographer 30 May 99/1 The basic specs of these two new OMs remain the same. 1979Truck & Bus Transportation July 20/2 Leyland Australia is basically working within the U.K. spec. to keep costs down.
▪ IV. spec, n.4
Colloq. abbrev. of specialist 2 c. U.S.
1958Army–Navy–Air Force Register 14 June 7 Grade E7. Title, Old: Master Spec. New: Specialist-7. 1969I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 43 Specialist Fourth Class—or Spec. Four—Much, a small man..who talked in a continuous monotone. 1977‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See xii. 200 These are designations of rank. An E-3 is a Pfc., a Spec 4 is Specialist 4th Class, a corporal. An E-5 is a three-striper, and so on.
▪ V. spec, a. colloq.
[Short for speculative a.]
Of or pertaining to the practice of building houses without prior guarantee of sale, esp. in estate developments. Also as adv. Cf. speculative a. 7 a.
1958Observer 2 Mar. 8/4 As ‘developers’ and L.P.T.B. leap-frogged over each other..far into the Home Counties, we created the vast paradise of spec' building and hire-purchase. 1958Spectator 4 July 13/1 Builder-designed ‘spec’ houses. Ibid. 8 Aug. 193/2 A film snippet of ‘spec.’ housing. 1962D. Tench Law for Consumers vii. 100 Where the buyer buys a completed new house from the builder or developer (what is sometimes called a ‘spec’ built house). 1965New Society 11 Nov. 6/3 How seldom local authorities and spec builders use any research at all. 1970J. Betjeman Ghastly Good Taste (new ed.) p. xxv, Spec. builders and advertisement hoardings and litter droppers. 1978J. Wainwright Jury People lii. 191 That estate..contains..‘high density’ housing... ‘Spec building’—that is, or was, the term used for such estates. 1978Listener 14 Sept. 337/3 The new, spec-built, often neo-Georgian houses.
▪ VI. spec
variant of speck n.
▪ VII. spec, v.
Brit. |spɛk|, U.S. |spɛk|
Present participle speccing, specing; past tense and past participle specced, spec'd, speced
[‹ spec n.3]
1. trans. To grade (coal) as meeting a defined standard (only in pass.). Also intr. (with out): (of coal) to meet a defined standard.
1981Coal Week (Nexis) 16 Feb. 4 Pennsylvania product specing out at 12,500 Btu/lb., under 2% sulfur guaranteed. 1981Coal Week Internat. (Nexis) 15 Apr. 1 Japanese sources put the price at $61..for coal speced at 32% to 34% volatility, 0.8% sulfur and 7.5% ash. 1990Coal Americas (Nexis) 12 July 3 The three-year deal calls for the purchase of coal spec'd at 6,700 kcal/kg.
2. trans. To outline or choose the specifications of; to define specifications for. Also: to build or manufacture to a defined standard. Also with out.
1983Electronic News 4 July 14/1 When..vendors spec their machines they don't always include exposure times or wafer changing times. 1991S. Winchester Pacific (1992) 351 A small team had already been assembled ‘to spec out what was going to be the personal computer of the 80s’. 1992Playboy July 33/2 Most bike companies don't build bikes, they spec them, choosing the best components within a certain price range. The local bike shop puts the pieces together. 1996T. Clancy Executive Orders xxxi. 414 It was in its way a highly sophisticated device,..and spec'd to survive violent impacts. 2006Driven Sept. 18/1 When you're speccing your Laguna Seca Blau M3, pick the European delivery option.
3. trans. With out or up. To improve the specifications of; to customize.
1986R. Franklin Defender ii. ix. 210 Originally conceived as a sedate, economical power plant for a scrapped midrange jetliner, the engine had been ‘specced out’ to meet the military's need for speed and enormous power. 1994BBC Top Gear Mag. Aug. 127/1, I specced it up how I wanted. There's an extra-wide double bunk, TV and video, CD-stacker, fridge and that. 2005Stuff Aug. 27/3 {pstlg}600 buys your basic KMX ({pstlg}300 for a kids' model) but you can spec it up to your heart's content.
Derivatives. specced adj.
1982Coal Week (Nexis) 15 Mar. 5 Costs..are higher than for comparably *speced coal in the area. 2004Boys Toys July 22/1 Setting this apart from a wealth of similarly specced cameras is the fact it captures video in RGB rather than conventional CMYG. |