| 释义 |
▪ I. rainbow, n.|ˈreɪnbəʊ|
Forms: see rain n.1 and bow n.1 (also 5 -bawe, 6 -boll, -boaw).
[OE. (reᵹn-), rénboᵹa = OHG. reginbogo (MHG. regenboge, G. -bogen; Du. -boog), ON. regnbogi (Sw. -båge, Da. -bue).]
1. a. A bow or arch exhibiting the prismatic colours in their order, formed in the sky opposite to the sun by the reflection, double refraction, and dispersion of the sun's rays in falling drops of rain. Also, a similar arch formed in the spray of cataracts, etc. Hence in phr. all the colours of the rainbow. Also the end of the rainbow, the rainbow's end: with allusion to the proverbial belief in the existence of a crock of gold (or something else of great value) at the end of a rainbow (cf. rainbow-chase at sense 5 d below).
lunar rainbow, one formed by the moon's rays, rarely seen. marine rainbow or sea rainbow, one formed on sea-spray. secondary rainbow or supernumerary rainbow, a fainter one formed inside or outside the primary by double reflection and double refraction, and exhibiting the spectrum colours in the opposite order to that of the primary.
c1000ælfric Gen. ix. 13 Ic sette minne renboᵹan on wolcnum. a1175Cott. Hom. 225 Þanne bið atáwed min rén bóge. c1250Gen. & Ex. 637 God..taunede him in ðe walkene a-buuen Rein-bowe, men cleped reed and blo. a1300Cursor M. 1976 Þou sal fra now mi rainbow see. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 337 A ston..callede Iris, whiche putte to the sonne causethe a reynebawe to appere in the aier. 1471Ripley Comp. Alch. Ep. in Ashm. (1652) 188 Pekoks fethers in Color gay, the Raynbow whych shall overgoe. 1526Tindale Rev. iv. 3 There was a rayne boll aboute the seate. 1555Eden Decades 246, I sawe a whyte raynebowe abowt mydnyght. 1698Froger Voy. 169 This same night, we beheld a Rain-bow cross the heavens, which..had a very lively red colour. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xi. 84 Any two opposite colours in the rainbow, form a third between them. 1813Scott Trierm. ii. iii, As wilder'd children leave their home, After the rainbow's arch to roam. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 12 In front of us a magnificent rainbow, fixing one of its arms in the valley.
Phr.1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. v. 119, I was beaten myselfe into all the colours of the Rainebow. 1834J. W. Croker in C. Papers 10 June (1884), The women dressed in all the colours of the rainbow. 1836W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provincialisms Sussex 16 Go to the end of the rainbow, and you'll find a crock of money. 1916R. Beach (title) Rainbow's end. 1971A. Diment Think Inc. ii. 21 Every wornout hack of an agent retires there... It's the end of the rainbow for every British spy. 1973R. Lewis Blood Money i. 12 He'd found the jackpot again, the end of the rainbow. 1976Times 9 Aug. 10/5 Until recently West Germany has [been]..relegating reunification to the dream world at the rainbow's end. 1977Times 27 Apr. 11/1 Holyhead could do with some oil at the end of the rainbow... It has seen a substantial decline in trade.
b. fig. (occas. with allusion to Gen. ix. 13–16).
1742Young Nt. Th. ii. 234 Has Death his fopperies? Then well may Life Put on her plume, and in her rainbow shine. 1813Byron Br. Abydos ii. xx, Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! 1876Saunders Lion in Path iii, He has seen in the tears of the nation a new rainbow of hope.
c. Her. A representation of a rainbow.
1780Edmondson Compl. Body Her. II. Gloss., Rainbow is represented in armory as a semi-circle of various colours, arising from clouds. 1780Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) V. 3599/2 ‘Argent, a Rainbow with a Cloud at each end’... This is part of the crest to the earl of Hopeton's coat-of-arms.
2. transf.
a. A brightly coloured arch, ring, etc., resembling a rainbow.
1715tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. I. ii. xvii. 113 [A vessel made of Electrum] discovers Poison, by a Rain-bow in the Cup. 1788Cowper Mrs. Montagu 4 The peacock sends his heavenly dyes, His rainbows and his starry eyes. 1842Tennyson Vision of Sin 32 Purple gauzes, golden hazes, liquid mazes, Flung the torrent rainbow round.
†b. spec. The iris of the eye. Obs. rare.
1615Crooke Body of Man 748 The horny tunicle neere vnder the Rain-bow in the great Circle. 1634T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xiii. xiii. (1678) 315 [An Ulcer] about the circle of the Iris or Rain-bow.
c. Boxing slang. A discoloured bruise.
1811Sporting Mag. XXXVII. 100 A violent blow on the forehead, by which he picked up a handsome rainbow.
3. a. A South American humming-bird of the genus Diphlogena (esp. D. Iris).
1861Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. pl. 247.
b. Short for rainbow-trout.
1779P. Freneau in U.S. Mag. Feb. 85 The rainbow cuts the deep of varied green. 1897Daily News 30 Aug. 2/4 The fish included a number of Rainbows, a species of trout not hitherto introduced to the river..Thames. 1909Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 16/2 If there is a river in which rainbows should grow large and wax fat it is the Thames. 1940R. Pertwee Master of None v. 27, I caught a sizeable rainbow with it [sc. a rod] last season. 1963Times 8 June 13/2 The rainbow is a fish of American origin. 1977F. Parrish Fire in Barley iii. 33 The Mullett family had eaten a good many of his fat rainbows. 1979Fisherman's Weekly 21 June 5/4 Top fish was a rainbow of 7lb. 7oz. taken by Eddy Ouslie of Exeter.
4. A capsule containing the barbiturates Amytal and Seconal, one end of which is red and the other blue. slang (orig. U.S.).
1968–70Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV, 100 Rainbows, n. A type of barbiturate in red and blue capsules. (Drug users' jargon.) 1972Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 2 July 14/3 The barbiturate addict takes red devils..rainbows..all 1972 junkie names for various drugs. 1972J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) xvi. 303 One lousy time I dropped a red devil and a rainbow with some guys at school, and that's all the dope I ever took. 1976M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow xiv. 115 Getting their kicks by mixing drinks and drugs, like..the high school kid carrying a flask of vodka to wash down the rainbows.
5. attrib. and Comb.
a. attributive, in senses ‘of or belonging to a rainbow’, ‘having the shape or colours of a rainbow’, as rainbow colours, rainbow crown, rainbow curve, rainbow dyes, rainbow flower, rainbow hue, rainbow light, rainbow path, rainbow-pinions, rainbow-shower, rainbow sister, rainbow-space, rainbow tint, rainbow-vapour.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Iris, A peculiar species of spring crystal, remarkable for its giving the *rainbow colours in reflection.
1810Southey Kehama xi. ix, A cataract..Hung with many a *rainbow crown.
1795–1814Wordsw. Excurs. vii. 743 The inglorious football..shaped a *rainbow curve.
1860C. Langster Hesperus 53 Queenly beauty diademed with *rainbow dyes.
1816Shelley Alastor 599 Nurses of *rainbow flowers and branching moss. 1928Blunden Retreat 67 What angel dropped her rainbow-flowers In that horizon blue of ours?
1816Shelley Alastor 334 The beams of sunset hung their *rainbow hues [etc.].
1813― Q. Mab i. 54 Those lines of *rainbow light. 1854Thoreau Walden 218 It was a lake of rainbow light, in which, for a short while, I lived like a dolphin. 1924R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 78 Then since laws move in rainbow-light Let faith be therefore strong.
1812Heber tr. Pindar ii. 127 To walk the *rainbow paths of heaven.
1839Bailey Festus xix. (1852) 303 *Rainbow-pinions coloured like yon cloud.
1804Edin. Rev. V. 103 The globules in a *rainbow-shower being all nearly of the same dimensions.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. lxi, Where Sculpture with her *rainbow sister vies.
1918E. Sitwell Clowns' Houses 14 A glassy ball that clowns have hurled Through the *rainbow-space of laughter.
1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. xlviii, Where'er we gaze..What *rainbow tints, what magic charms are found!
1840Browning Sordello ii. Wks. 1896 I. 128/2 Whose shape divine, Quivered i'the farthest *rainbow-vapour.
b. attributive, in various fig. senses, as rainbow-hint, rainbow-presence, rainbow promise, rainbow-welcome.
a1806K. White Time 121 There's not a wind that blows but bears with it Some rainbow promise. a1835Mrs. Hemans Poems, To the New-Born, A rainbow-welcome thine has been, of mingled smiles and tears. ― Genius Singing of Love, The light thy rainbow-presence throws Over the poet's dream. 1861Dickens Lett. 17 Nov. (1880) II. 158 Precious to me as a rainbow-hint of your friendship.
c. instrumental, parasynthetic, and similative, as rainbow-coloured, rainbow-edged, rainbow-gay, rainbow-girded, rainbow-happy, rainbow-large, rainbow-like, rainbow-painted, rainbow-sided, rainbow-skirted, rainbow-sweet, rainbow-tailed, rainbow-tinted, rainbow-winged adjs.
a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 191 A loose..*Rainbow-colour'd Vest. 1860G. A. Spottiswoode in Vac. Tour 82 Clouds of rainbow-coloured spray.
1840Browning Sordello i. Wks. 1896 I. 124/1 Lucid dew-drops *rainbow-edged.
1893Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 69 O *rainbow-gay the red pools lay that swilled and spilled and spread.
c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 699 To Troy the *rainbow-girded Dame right heavy news relates.
1940Blunden Poems 1930–1940 190 How comes the *rainbow-happy shower!
1818Keats Endym. i. 755 My higher hope Is of too wide, too *rainbow-large a scope.
1847Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. 119 Five concentric *rainbow-like semicircles.
1750Warton Ode vii. Poet. Wks. 1802 I. 159 Through the sunshine and the shower, Descry the *rainbow-painted tower.
1818Keats Endym. ii. 110 Fish, Golden, or *rainbow-sided.
1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 116 With *rainbow-skirted showers, and odorous winds.
1942L. Hughes Shakespeare in Harlem 20 So if you want to know beauty's *Rainbow-sweet thrill, Stroll down luscious, Delicious, fine Sugar Hill.
1929Oxf. Poetry 32 Conjure..rich waterlilies lightly to be embraced by *rainbowtailed delirious dragonflies.
1827Disraeli Viv. Grey IV. vi. vi. 196 The sun..lent additional brilliancy to the *rainbow-tinted birds of paradise. a1835Mrs. Hemans Poems, Tale of Fourteenth Cent., Fancy's rainbow-tinted dreams. 1897E. L. Voynich Gadfly viii. 352 The surplices of the choristers gleamed, rainbow-tinted, beneath the coloured windows.
1819Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. iv. 130, I see cars drawn by *rainbow-wingèd steeds.
d. Special combs., as rainbow agate, chalcedony, iridescent varieties of these stones; rainbow-bird Austral., the bee-eater, Merops ornatus, a small, brightly coloured bird belonging to the family Meropidæ and native to northern Australia; rainbow boa, a large iridescent snake, Epicrates cenchris, of the family Boidæ, found in forest areas of northern South America; rainbow cactus, a small, cylindrical cactus, Echinocereus pectinatus, native to southwestern North America and bearing red flowers and spines in bands of various colours; rainbow-chase fig., a quest which is rendered pointless by the illusory nature of its object; hence rainbow-chaser, -chasing; rainbow coalition orig. U.S., a political grouping of minority peoples and other disadvantaged elements, esp. for the purpose of electing a candidate; also in extended use; rainbow crystal = iris 3 b; rainbow darter, an American fish of the genus Pœcilichthys, esp. P. cœruleus; rainbow-fish, a name given to several brightly-coloured fishes of America and Australia; also, a brightly coloured wrasse belonging to the family Labridæ; rainbow-flower, the Iris; rainbow pitta, the Pitta Iris of Australia; rainbow rash = rainbow-worm; rainbow-serpent, in Australian aboriginal mythology, a large snake associated with water; rainbow-stone = iris 3 b; rainbow trout, a Californian species of trout, Salmo irideus, recently introduced into British rivers; rainbow tub, a tub used in calico-printing to produce rainbow-colours; rainbow-worm, a species of tetter; rainbow wrasse, a brilliantly-coloured labroid fish (Julis vulgaris or Coris Julis).
1911J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 107 *Rainbow-bird, Aust. Bee-eater,..Spinetail, Pintail, Merops ornatus. 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Oct. 21/3 One of the loveliest birds of N. Australia..is the rainbow-bird, which, with its green coat, black tail, and bright orange throat, well deserves its name. 1944A. Russell Bush Ways v. 28 The mutton-birds make underground nesting burrows, and so, too, do the rainbow-bird..and the white-backed swallow. 1963A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 167 A rainbow-bird darted across the road, a brilliant flash of emerald, blue and orange. 1975I. Rowley Bird Life 253 Hole-nesting birds such as pardalotes, kingfishers, rainbow-birds, parrots, mutton-birds and penguins can all be captured while they are visiting the nest.
1910R. L. Ditmars Reptiles of World iv. 231 The *Rainbow Boa..derives its name from a gorgeous iridescence playing over the scales of a healthy example. 1937A. H. Verrill Strange Reptiles ix. 120 We found two of the lovely iridescent rainbow boas, one barely five feet in length, the other a trifle over six feet. 1958J. Carew Black Midas vi. 119 On our way back I saw a rainbow boa coiled around a branch. 1965R. & D. Morris Men & Snakes viii. 198 But what is the true life span of a snake?.. An anaconda managed 28 years, a rainbow boa 27. 1972M. Richardson Fascination of Reptiles vii. 79 A relation [of the Cuban boa] is the rainbow boa..found between the south of Mexico and northern Argentina.
1892J. G. Lemmon in G. W. James In & Around Grand Canyon (1900) xxxi. 325 *Rainbow cactus, with bright-coloured zones. 1930J. M. Breazeale Color Schemes of Cacti 14 (caption) A flower of the rainbow cactus..about three-fourths natural size. 1976Express-News (San Antonio, Texas) 27 Nov. 10-c/1 We..saw a spiny little cactus growing upright out of the ground like a fat ear of corn. Its bands of colors were the colors of the rainbow—and that's its name—the rainbow cactus.
1865Page Geol. Terms (ed. 2) 382 *Rainbow Chalcedony.
1886St. James's Gaz. 2 June 10 A fact which had led Mr. Rylands off a *rainbow-chase after a visionary Chancellorship.
1892Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 1 Oct. 1/8 The *rainbow chasers of the Administration are not idle these days. 1925D. Senior Rainbow Chasers iii. 33 ‘We are all Rainbow-Chasers in youth,’ I retorted. ‘And even in old age the hope of finding the Crock of Gold is hard to kill.’
1904N.Y. Even. Post 1 Sept. 7 Early in the campaign he had told his associates that it was of no use to go *rainbow chasing after Massachusetts, Wisconsin, or Illinois. 1908Hampton's Broadway Mag. Nov. 599/1 We had no business whatever to go rainbow chasing.
1982Austin (Texas) Amer. Statesman 15 Apr. 88/1 Hightower boasts he will beat the incumbent with the help of ‘The *Rainbow Coalition: the blacks, the browns, the white liberals and the Yellow Dog Democrats’. 1983N.Y. Times 14 Nov. 18/5 Unity among the white poor, minorities and women will create a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ that can have a significant impact on our process of government. 1985Times 26 Mar. 5/7 The careers of all the important black politicians are directly linked to the Democratic Party. Mr Jackson's idea of drawing other minority groups into a ‘rainbow coalition’ has failed. 1986Today 6 May 16/7 The Alliance's best chance of something spectacular is in Liverpool where they hope to gain minority control by forming a ‘rainbow’ coalition with Labour opponents of council deputy leader Derek Hatton.
1748Sir J. Hill Hist. Fossils 179 The Iris, or *Rain-bow Crystal of authors.
1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. America 514 Pœcilichthys Agassiz, *Rainbow Darters.
1888G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 205 In this limpid pool were many gorgeously-colored species, the angel-fish, the parrot-fish, the *rainbow-fish. 1908E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. iv. 156 In the rainbow and parrot fishes they [sc. pharyngeal teeth] are highly specialised. 1927[see guppy1]. 1955I. S. R. Munro Marine & Fresh Water Fishes Ceylon 183 Rainbow Fish, Wrasses... Mostly brilliant coloured species. 1962D. W. Tucker tr. Sterba's Freshwater Fishes of World 807 Dwarf Rainbowfish, Blacklined Rainbowfish. Northern Australia. 1973Stand. Encycl. S. Afr. IX. 237/2 Rainbow-fishes... Tropical fishes, known also as wrasses, mostly living about coral reefs in warm seas. 1977J. M. Thomson Field Guide Sea & Estuary Fishes Austral. 92 The female Rainbow Fish is less colourful than her mate.
1848Gould Birds of Australia IV. pl. 3 The *Rainbow Pitta differs..from all other known species of this lovely tribe of birds.
1926A. R. Radcliffe-Brown in Jrnl. R. Anthrop. Inst. XXIX. 19 There is found in widely separated parts of Australia a belief in a huge serpent which lives in certain pools or water-holes. This serpent is associated, and sometimes identified, with the rainbow... Hence the *rainbow-serpent may come to occupy an important place in the beliefs and customs relating to medicine-men and the practice of magic. 1930Oceania I. 270 It [sc. the snake represented] is both the rainbow-serpent who brings spirit babies into water-holes, and also a ‘quiet’ python which is eaten. 1950Elkin & Berndt Art in Arnhem Land i. 17 A diffusion from the south of Rainbow Serpent mythology. 1965R. & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 19 By far the most spectacular snakes in Australian aboriginal art are the mythical rainbow serpents. These usually live deep in waterholes during the dry season, but take to the thunder clouds when the rains come, sometimes appearing in the sky as rainbows. 1977Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 65/1 At the foot of the monolith is an extensive Aboriginal art gallery including an ochre rock painting of the sacred rainbow serpent.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 270/1 The iris, or *rainbow-stone, seems to be no other than a moon⁓stone.
1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. America 312 S[almo] irideus—California Brook Trout, *Rainbow Trout.
1885Census Instruct., *Rainbow Tub Maker.
1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 475 The *Rainbow-Worm, or tetter, is of a rare occurrence... [Willan] called it a rainbow rash.
1836W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes I. 291 (heading) The *Rainbow Wrasse. 1854Badham Halieut. 86 The..rainbow wrasse in his gay harlequin dress of green and blue. 1864Couch Fishes III. 51 The usual size of the Rainbow Wrass is in length from four to six or seven inches. 1972Oxf. Bk. Vertebrates 62/1 Coris julis (Rainbow Wrasse), common in the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic, appears only rarely in British waters.
Add:[2.] d. A very wide variety or range of related things.
1839P. J. Bailey Festus 247 A rainbow of sweet sounds, Just spanning the soothed sense. a1961E. O. Hauser in Webster, s.v., A catchall large enough to hold a rainbow of opinions. 1977New Yorker 20 June 93/1 The switching of instruments becomes almost ritualistic, and although it results in a rainbow of timbres and tones, it adds a hyperactive note. 1985Sydney Morning Herald 27 July 41/2 At Woodstock you had the war, rebellion.., bad acid—a rainbow of things. 1989Business Week 20 Mar. 134/3 The challenge for companies is to provide flexibility and a rainbow of options so both men and women can raise their families as they see fit and still contribute.
▸ rainbow flag n. a flag upon which there is a representation of a rainbow, or a pattern of stripes regarded as reminiscent of a rainbow, spec. (a) the flag of the United States; (b) a flag used to represent international peace and unity; (c) a flag used to symbolize gay pride.
1818J. Neal Battle of Niagara iv. 81 The *rainbow flag is there, with sheeted flow, And they with silent tread, and cool determined brow. 1838G. P. Morris Deserted Bride 29 Hail with pride and loud hurrahs, Streaming from a thousand spars, Freedom's rainbow-flag of stars! Symbol of our land! 1909Washington Post 25 Sept. 4/4 The twin rainbow flags of peace will be unfurled from the roof of a downtown skyscraper by two little girls. 1947N.Y. Times 7 Aug. 2/6 On the second anniversary of the bomb attack on Hiroshima..a large wooden cross, a rainbow flag of all nations and a Hebrew banner were raised. 1988R. Shilts Band played On ii. ii. 14 Gay cowboys from the Reno Gay Rodeo pranced their horses down Market Street, waving the flags of Nevada and California, as well as the rainbow flag that had become the standard of California gays. 2002N.Y. Mag. 29 Apr. 29 Gay people in New York eschew the constant need to be gay. Difficult carrying that rainbow flag when you're just trying to make rent.
▪ II. rainbow, v.|ˈreɪnbəʊ|
[f. prec.]
trans. To brighten or span with, or as with, a rainbow; to produce like a rainbow.
1807J. Barlow Columb. iv. 264 His sword, high waving,..rainbow'd far the spray. 1860Athenæum 26 May 719 A life whose hopes and fears are rainbow'd out from tears! 1892Times 15 Apr. 3/3 The sails..rainbowed with small signalling flags.
Hence ˈrainbowed ppl. a.
1846Kingsley Saint's Trag. i. iii, See him stand Before the altar, like a rainbowed saint. 1865E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 420 The rainbowed mist of poetic fiction. |