| 释义 |
† ˈcradden, -on, n. and a. Obs. exc. dial.
Also 6–7 Sc. crau-, crawdoun; 8–9 dial. craddant.
[Derivation uncertain: possibly the same word as crathon, but app. associated in Sc. with craw to crow and down; several quots. refer to or suggest a cock that will not fight.]
A craven, a coward.
1513Douglas æneis xi. Prol. 119 Becum thow cowart, craudoun recryand, And by consent cry cok, thi deid is dycht. 1571B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 158 Neither must you..have him [the cock] a Craddon, for he must sometime stand in the defence of his wife and children. 1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 23 It wold make our craw-down fedrum fal. 1825–79Jamieson, Cradden, a dwarf. Lanarks.
Hence † craddenly a., cowardly.
1674Ray N.C. Words, Crassantly, as a crassantly lad, a coward. Chesh. In Lancashire they say craddantly. So1692–1732in Coles. 1742–1800Bailey, A Craddantly Lad, a Coward. Lancash. 1787Grose Prov. Gloss., Craddenly, cowardly. North. 1847–78Halliwell, Craddantly. |