| 释义 |
darter|ˈdɑːtə(r)|
[f. dart v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who throws or shoots darts; a soldier armed with a dart.
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Certus, Iaculis certus, a sure and cunning darter. 1580North Plutarch (1676) 391 Appointing his Archers and Darters to hurl..their Darts..to the tops of the Houses. a1656Ussher Ann. (1658) 730 Having a strong guard of darters and slingers. 1820Edgeworth Mem. I. 199 He was called Jack the Darter. He threw his darts..to an amazing height. 1849Grote Greece ii. liii. VI. 520 To organise either darters or slingers.
†b. A harpooner. Obs.
1724R. Falconer Voy. (1769) 8 The wounded Fish [dolphin] immediately flounces..which the Darter observes, giving him Rope and Play.
2. A person or animal that darts or moves swiftly.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. lxvii, The finny darter with the glittering scales.
†3. = dart n. 4, dart-snake. Obs.
1607Topsell Serpents (1608) 696 Certain [serpents] in Hungary..do leap upon men, as these darters do. 1820W. Tooke tr. Lucian I. 96 Innumerable asps..darters, cow-suckers and toads.
4. a. English name of the genus Plotus or family Plotidæ of web-footed birds of the pelican tribe, with long neck and small head, found in parts of tropical Africa and America, and in Australia; so called from their way of darting on their prey.
1825Gore tr. Blumenbach's Nat. Hist. v. 126 Anhinga, the Darter. P. ventre albo. 1881G. M. Fenn Off to Wilds xxx. (1888) 210 That curious water-bird, the darter, swimming with its body nearly submerged, and its long, snaky neck, ready to dart its keen bill with almost lightning rapidity at the tiny fish upon which it fed.
b. pl. The order Jaculatores in Macgillivray's classification of birds, comprising the kingfishers, bee-eaters, and jacamars; from their habit of darting upon their prey.
5. A name for various fishes; esp. the small fresh-water fishes constituting the N. American subfamily Etheostominæ of the family Percidæ, which dart from their retreats when disturbed.
1842J. E. DeKay Zool. N.Y. iv. 20 The Tessellated Darter. Bolesoma tessellatum... It is usually seen at the bottom of clear springs or streams, lying for a while perfectly still, and then suddenly darts off with great velocity at its prey. This habit has acquired for it the popular name of Darter. 1884Goode Fisheries of U.S. 417 Darters are found in all fresh waters of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. 1887C. C. Abbott Waste-Land Wand. vii. 210 There was a goodly company of little darters or etheostomoids..all of one species—the common tessellated darter.
Add:6. Ent. Any dragonfly whose flight behaviour is characterized by darting to and from a particular perch; spec. a member of the family Libellulidae. Also darter dragonfly.
[1917R. J. Tillyard Biol. Dragonflies xvii. 322 Amongst the Aeschnidae in general, a ‘darting’ method of flight is very evident, the insect progressing by a series of jerks.] 1937C. Longfield Dragonflies Brit. Isles 38 Anisoptera. Hawker and darter dragon-flies. 1987Camera Weekly 25 July 56/2 Powder blue or crimson darters repeatedly return to the same prominent twig. |