| 释义 |
squeaky, a.|ˈskwiːkɪ|
[f. squeak n. or v.]
a. Characterized by squeaking sounds; tending to squeak. Proverbial phr. the squeaky wheel gets the grease (and varr.): the person who makes the most fuss or trouble gets the attention.
1862C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate xii. (1880) 133 The loud squeaky key of the voice..showed that she had worked herself up into a state of excitement. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 219 They sang in nasal and squeaky tones. 1885Harper's Mag. Dec. 78/1 What a scene of squeaky gossip in the moonlight! 1899Doyle Duet 238 An excellent piano.., but it is getting so squeaky in the upper notes.
[1937in J. Bartlett Familiar Quotations 518/2 The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease. 1948in B. Stevenson Home Bk. Prov. 2883/2, I hate to be a kicker, I always long for peace, But the wheel that does the squeaking is the one that gets the grease.] 1969J. La Marsh Mem. Bird in Gilded Cage x. 291 Mrs. Kinnear did..put on a most relentless campaign over the years..in line with the best of political principles—‘the squeaky wheel got the grease’. 1974Hansard (Canada) 17 Oct. 502/1 It is the old story: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
b. Of the voice: = squeaking ppl. a. 1 b.
1863Kingsley Water-Bab. iii. 102 The tiniest, shrillest, squeakiest little voice you ever heard. 1881M. L. Molesworth Adv. Herr Baby 36 My little voice must have sounded very faint and squeaky from out of the trunk.
c. Comb. squeaky clean (also with hyphen), (of hair, etc.) washed and rinsed so clean that it squeaks; completely clean; freq. fig., above criticism, beyond reproach.
1975Country Life 8 May 1176/2 No one..is in a position to criticise... No one is, in the current idiom, that squeaky-clean. 1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone i. 24 Still towelling his hair, Bone returned to the living room... ‘Behold, the squeaky clean Richard Bone.’ 1978Guardian Weekly 13 Aug. 16/2 The [Ford Motor] company has denied making any illegal payments, claiming that it is ‘squeaky clean’ in this area. 1980[see set-aside n. phr.]. 1981L. Deighton XPD xvii. 155 His..long dark hair was wavy and squeaky clean.
Hence ˈsqueakyish a.
1832Wilson in Blackw. Mag. XXXII. 865 Performers with..punyish figures that must strut, and squeakyish voices that must crack. |