单词 | cut out of the whole cloth |
释义 | > as lemmasto cut (etc.) out of (the) whole cloth 10. Phrases. to cut the coat according to the cloth: to adapt oneself to circumstances, keep within the limits of one's means (see cut v.). †the cloth is all of another hue: the case is totally different. †to bring to cloth: to accomplish, finish. to cut (etc.) out of (the) whole cloth: see whole cloth n. 2. And other proverbial expressions. ΚΠ c1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 42 We ben bigilid alle wiþ oure lyst. Þe clooþ is al of anothir hew. 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. viii. sig. C I shall Cut my cote after my cloth. 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Kivv It is a bad cloth, that will take no colour. 1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 80 The king..Began to love, who for he was a king, By little sute, this match to cloth did bring. 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. vi. 177 This rent (not in the seam but whole cloth) betwixt these Churches was no mean hindrance to the Holy warre. 1883 C. Reade Many a Slip in Harper's Mag. Dec. 134/2 We can all cut our coat according to our cloth. (made, cut, manufactured, etc.) out of (the) whole cloth 2. figurative and in figurative contexts. Esp. in (made, cut, manufactured, etc.) out of (the) whole cloth. extracted from whole clothn.adj.adv. a. Used in various senses reflecting the nature of whole cloth, such as its size, its uncut and unworked state when manufactured, or the fact that it is composed of a single material unmixed with other kinds of cloth. In later use frequently with reference to something made or undertaken without relying on previous work. ΚΠ 1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes (new ed.) ii. f. xcij He played the courtyer all togyther, and fashyoned hymselfe wholly to the kynges delyghtes. He ruffled it out in the whole clothe wyth a myghtye rable of digised ruffianes at his tayle. 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 46 Two or three thousand pound... When hee hath it all in his handes, for a month or two he reuels it, and cuts it out in the whole cloth. 1622 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman i. 5 The valiant Souldier..measureth out of the whole cloath his Honour with his sword. 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 333 They cut it out of the whole cloth, and divide their acres peece-meale into shreds. 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. vi. 177 This rent (not in the seam but whole cloth) betwixt these Churches. 1677 W. Hubbard Pres. State New-Eng. ii. 1 The List or Border here being known to be more worth then the whole Cloth; That whole Tract of Land, being of little worth, unless it were for the Borders thereof upon the Sea-coast. 1749 E. Turrell Life B. Colman iv. 29 An itinerant, powerful, illiterate Preacher..cut Mr. Colman out of the whole Cloth, as he used pleasantly to relate it, and left him but three Votes. 1762 T. Smollett et al. tr. Voltaire Wks. XIII. 169 He enjoys the honour of the priesthood, while he laughs at the whole cloth. 1838 Musical Rev. 27 Oct. 244/1 Although three fourths of it [sc. a hypothetical oratorio] be taken in ‘whole cloth’ from other authors, and the remaining part made up of patch-work, who will know it? 1899 Appletons' Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 612 Fortunately, we have not to begin our experiments out of whole cloth. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xii. 270 That Eton captain is cut out of whole cloth; no shoddy there. 1966 L. Pitt Decline of Californios (1998) i. 6 Local leaders had to manufacture civil government from the whole cloth, with little formal preparation. 2012 P. Valliere Conciliarism ii. 83 The orthodox consensus..was not cut from whole cloth by Christian intellectuals. b. colloquial (chiefly North American). Used to indicate that a statement, report, story, etc., is wholly false, with no basis in fact or reality. Cf. fabricate v. 2, to make up 6c at make v.1 Phrasal verbs 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [noun] invention1526 forgery1582 fiction1605 romance1668 fabrication1790 whole cloth1823 concoction1831 fictionizing1938 1823 Christian Reg. (Boston) 28 Feb. 114/3 All this and much more was made up out of the whole cloth, and circulated as so much gospel by those who knew it was all false. 1868 Amer. Entomologist 1 245/1 Paragraphs like this..are sheer humbug and delusion, manufactured out of whole cloth. 1910 McClure's Mag. May 107/2 This despatch was a ‘fake’ from whole cloth. 1950 ‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wise x. 119 He'll make up a story out of whole cloth if he doesn't get an interview. 2001 Tin House Mag. Summer 185 Our theory is that Dunand himself created the Chicken Marengo legend out of whole cloth, as a foil to his own embarrassment at Austerlitz. < as lemmas |
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