| 释义 |
▪ I. spunk, n.|spʌŋk|
Forms: α. 6 sponke, 6–8 sponk, 7 sponck. β. 6 spounk, 6–7 spunck, 7 spunke, 6– spunk.
[Of obscure history; prob. related to funk n.1 Cf. also punk n.3]
1. Sc. and dial. A spark, in various senses.
Chiefly in fig. use: cf. spark n.1 1 d and 2.
a. With of (some quality, fire, light, etc.).
α1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 211 For ane sponk of small occasioun of unkindness. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 10 How mercyfullie God hath looked upoun this Realme, reteanyng within it some sponk of his light, evin in the tyme of grettast darkness. 1590Davidson Reply Bancroft in Wodrow Misc. (1844) 508 If there had beene a sponke thereof [sc. charity] within him. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas iii. 446 Seazing on her death⁓seal'd lipps to knowe If any sponk of breath as ȝit remain'd.
β1599A. Hume His Recantation 10, I feel no spunk of faith in me. 1629Sir W. Mure True Crucifix 681 Loe, while ev'n his life's last spunke is spent, The Temple's vaile is to the bottome rent. 1647Trapp Com. Rev. vi. 3 A Sea⁓coal fire, if not stirred up, will die of it self, so will our spark and spunk of light. 1653Binning Serm. (1845) 622 He hath no more religion than a Spunk of desire. 1724Ramsay Vision ii, Ilk creature..That had a spunk of sense. 1785Burns 1st Ep. J. L[aprai]k xiv, O for a spunk o' Allan's glee. 1808Stagg Misc. Poems 77 At length a wee bit spunk o' light Transfix'd his wand'ring eyes. 1886Stevenson Kidnapped xviii, He has some spunks of decency.
b. Without const.
c1585Montgomerie Misc. Poems xiii. 40 Fy on that freik that can not love! He hes not worth a sponk of spreit. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 57 He slokned out all occasioun of ciuil weir, and nychtbour fead, spunk and spark. 1669R. Fleming Fulfilling Script. (1801) I. 172 That little spunk now under ashes must assuredly revive and blow up to a flame. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxvi, Not a gleed of fire, then, except..maybe a spunk in Mysie's cutty-pipe. 1823–in dial. glossaries. 1827J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 II. 31 As an Editor, he is, compared wi' Christopher North—but as a spunk to the Sun!
c. A small fire. Also in phr. a spunk of fire.
1802Sibbald Chron. S.P. Gloss. s.v., Spunk of fire, a very small fire. 1806J. Nicol Poems I. 18 (Jam.), I see thee shiverin, wrinklet, auld, Cour owre a spunk that dies wi' cauld. 1815Scott Guy M. xi, Ye may light a spunk o' fire in the red room. 1870Verney Lettice Lisle xx, What, ain't there a spunk of fire?
d. Sc. and north. Applied to persons (see quots.).
1808Jamieson s.v., A mere spunk, a lively creature; especially applied to one who has more spirit than bodily strength, or appearance of it. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., He's a wee spunk o' a thing.
2. Touchwood; tinder, match, or amadou prepared from this.
1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 23 In spunck or tinder thee quick fyre he kindly receaued. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. v. 89 To make white powder:..The best I know is by the powder of rotten willowes; spunck, or touchwood prepared, might perhaps make it russet. 1651in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 97 His Lordship told me the way of making of Spunk, or Touchwood. a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 208 The burning of Match, Touchwood, Sponck, &c. 1723Pres. St. Russia II. 13 They cure their wounds with Spunk or Tinder. 1754Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 811 Of which [sc. fungus] touchwood or spunk, and the amadoue ordinaire of the French, is usually prepared. 1796Hist. Ned Evans II. 141 By rubbing them with pounded gun-powder a little damped, he formed a kind of spunk, which kindled like a squib. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. xx. (1844) I. 147 It contained also his flint and steel, and spunk for lighting. Ibid. xxiii. I. 189 A spark of fire is seen and caught in a piece of spunk. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v. Amadou, Amadou..dipped in a solution of saltpetre, forms the spunk or German tinder of commerce.
3. One or other of various fungi or fungoid growths on trees, esp. those of the species Polyporus, freq. used in the preparation of tinder. Cf. touchwood b.
1665Hooke Microgr. 139 A kind of Jews-ear, or Mushroom, growing..on several sorts of Trees, such as Elders, Maples, Willows, etc.,..commonly called by the name of spunk. 1674J. Josselyn Two Voy. 70 There is an excrescence growing out of the body of the Tree called spunck, or dead mens Caps. 1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) I. 63 The best ordinary styptic is pressure with an elastic substance, as..touchwood, spunk, or some other spongy boletus. 1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 199 The genus Boletus contains the touchwood, or spunk, which is sometimes used as tinder. 1866Treas. Bot. 1089/1 Spunk, Polyporus igniarius.
4. Sc. (and north.). A slender slip of wood tipped with brimstone and used for conveying or producing fire; a match, a lucifer.
1755Johnson, Sponk, a word in Edinburgh which denotes a match, or any thing dipt in sulphur that takes fire: as, any sponks will ye buy? 1788G. Wilson Coll. Masonic Songs 52 The spunks tipt with brimstone he gropt for, In order to light him a candle. 1821Scott Pirate vii, There is a gathering peat on the kitchen fire, and a spunk beside it—ye can light your ain candle. 1842J. Aiton Domest. Econ. (1857) 263 The prowling thief enters the byre with a bag and brimstoned spunk. 1893G. Travers Mona Maclean II. 127 Come and put a spunk to this fire.
5. a. Spirit, mettle; courage, pluck.
1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i, The squire has got spunk in him. 1775S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. cxvii. (1783) IV. 94 Those grave persons, who want taste, or (as these young gentlemen more elegantly term it) spunk, for such exercises. 1781R. King Mod. Lond. Spy 24 They allowed that I had blood, but wanted spunk and spirit. 1802Bentham Panopt. Wks. 1843 XI. 131 If Lord Henry had stuff and spunk enough in him for such business. 1857Holland Bay Path xxiv. 285, I like your spunk, but it don't count in a fight with crazy folks and fools. 1890Clark Russell My Shipmate Louise I. x. 213 Neither of them wanting spunk, at it they went!
transf.1822Galt Provost xxxi, The bailie, like a bantam cock in a passion, stotted out of his chair with the spunk of a birslet pea.
b. In phr. fellow, man, etc., of (..) spunk.
1774Westm. Mag. II. 10 He is a fellow of Spanish spunk, and will run any man through the body, who dares to censure his portraits. 1785Burns Jolly Beggars xliv, With an air That showed a man of spunk. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 245 'Twas a shame That a lad of my spunk should be coop'd up so tame. 1833[S. Smith] Lett. J. Downing xxii. (1835) 127 You are a man of spunk, Major, and I like you for it.
c. coarse slang. Seminal fluid.
For the sense development, compare the obs. slang mettle, which had the same meaning.
c1888–94My Secret Life I. 87 It seemed to me scarcely possible, that the sweet, well dressed, smooth-spoken ladies..could let men put the spunk up their cunts. 1896A. Beardsley Let. 21 Dec. (1970) 236 She played dirty tricks... Till the spunk trickled right down her femur. 1923J. Manchon Le Slang 289 Spunk,..2° courage, vivacité, feu; on dit de préférence mettle, parce que 3° O[bscène] (= come, s.). 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 196 By sprawling right back on the seat and ignoring the stink of the shit-pit below me, I managed in no time to lob some spurts of spunk over my stomach, with some relief. 1978J. Irving World according to Garp ii. 32 The boys were beating off, in turn, and rushing with their hot spunk in their hands to the microscopes in the infirmary lab—to see if they were sterile.
6. attrib., chiefly in sense 4, as spunk-maker, spunk-seller, spunk-wood; spunk-box, a tinder-box or matchbox; spunk-fencer slang, a match-seller; spunk-flask, a tinder-flask; spunk-water U.S., rain-water that collects in hollow tree-stumps, popularly thought to be a cure for warts.
1721Ramsay Lucky Spence v, Gin he likes to light his match At your spunk-box. 1828Moir Mansie Wauch xx, Hiring beds at twopence a-night to..spunk-makers, and such like pick-pockets. 1835J. Monteath Dunblane (1887) 122 His Spunk-flask at his hurdies hung. 1839Slang Dict. 34 Spunk-fencers, match sellers. 1876[see blame v. 7 d]. 1888Barrie Auld Licht Idylls xii, An itinerant matchseller known..as the literary spunk-seller. 1888Wardrop Poems & Sk. 213 I'll ding the business into spunkwood. 1949Time 29 Aug. 7/2 Spunk-water, spunk-water, wash away my warts!
Add:[5.] d. Austral. slang. A sexually attractive person; freq. as young spunk.
1978J. Rowe Warlords 205, I can always round up a boatload of horny looking young spunks, but there's no guarantees for old gits like us from the amateurs. 1982Sydney Morning Herald 18 Sept. 1/2 Teenagers still rage at weekends, check out spunks of both sexes and try to avoid hassles with the olds. 1985Truckin' Life Apr. 113/2 Just as we're pullin' through the outskirts of town, there it is; a right spunk, a nubile nymph lookin' for somewhere to go and no-one to take her there. 1986Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 25 Oct. 80/5 No matter how skittish she might feel, old girls of 59 mustn't even flutter an eyelash at a young spunk.
▪ II. † spunk, a. Obs.
= spunky a.
1788J. Palmer in Parl. P. (1812–3) IV. 69, I hope the old woman may be spunk, and refuse to apologize. 1810Spirit Publ. Jrnls. XIII. 177 Every thing spunk and giggish.
▪ III. spunk, v.|spʌŋk|
[f. spunk n.]
1. intr. To leak out, to become known. Sc.
1808in Jamieson. 1820Hogg Sheph. Cal. (1829) I. 28 It at last spunkit out that Rob Dodds had got hame safe enough. 1822Galt Sir A. Wylie xxxviii, It might be detrimental if ony thing were to spunk out. 1857Stewart Scot. Charact. 43 (E.D.D.), It spunkit oot I'd gat a letter frae Dr. Quibbles.
2. With up.
a. U.S. To show spunk or spirit; to stand up, assert oneself spiritedly or courageously.
c1850‘Dow, Jr.’ in Jerdan Yankee Hum. (1853) 109 Just spunk up to the old codger—let him know you are not afraid of him. 1866Harvard Mem. Biogr. II. 7 Sometimes I feel as if I must lie down;..but I ‘spunk up’ and have thus far held out. 1898Westcott David Harum xxii, Then he spunked up some an' says [etc.].
b. Sc. To blaze or fire up in anger or passion.
1898N. Munro J. Splendid viii. 86 He spunked up like tinder. ‘Do you call me a liar?’ he said. |