| 释义 |
midshipman|ˈmɪdʃɪpmən|
[f. prec. + man.
So called because stationed ‘amidships’ when on duty.]
1. In the navy, the designation of a rank intermediate in the line of promotion between that of naval cadet and that of the lowest commissioned officer (i.e. in the British navy that of sub-lieutenant, in the U.S. navy that of ensign).
[1626,1627: see midships-man s.v. midships.] 1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2054/3 Mr. Littleton, and..Mr. Brisbane, both Midshipmen Extraordinary. 1701Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) V. 100 Her lieutenant and 2 midship men killed. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Midshipman, a sort of naval cadet, appointed by the captain of a ship of war, to second the orders of the superior officers. 1855Mrs. Gaskell North & S. xiv, How well he looked in his midshipman's dress. 1900W. Baird Gen. Wauchope ii. 33 Midshipmen's amusements and practical jokes are proverbial.
2. U.S. ‘A batrachoid fish, Porichthys margaritatus: so called from the rows of round luminous bodies along the belly, like the buttons of a naval cadet's coat’ (Cent. Dict.).
1882Jordan & Gilbert Synop. Fishes N. Amer. 751 Porichthys porosissimus—Midshipman.
3. Comb.: midshipman's butter, the Avocado, Persea gratissima; midshipman's half pay (see quot.); midshipman's hitch (see quot. 1886); midshipman's nuts, broken pieces of biscuit as dessert (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); midshipman's roll (see quot. 1857).
1866Treas. Bot. 867/1 Persea gratissima... They contain a large quantity of firm pulp possessing a buttery or marrow-like taste, and are hence frequently called Vegetable Marrow or *Midshipman's Butter. 1871Kingsley At Last ii, Avocado, or Alligator pears, alias midshipman's butter.
c1851― Lett. & Life (1877) I. 277 *Midshipman's half-pay (nothing a-day and find yourself).
1808D. Lever Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor 9 To make a *Midshipman's Hitch. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 591/2 Midshipman's Hitch.—Take two round turns inside the bight, the same as a half-hitch repeated; stop up the end; or let another half-hitch be taken or held by hand. Used for hooking a tackle for a temporary purpose.
1828Night Watch II. viii. 50 ‘You shall have a fistful of *midshipman's nuts to crack for your supper.’.. He gave me some broken biscuits. 1846H. Melville Typee vi. 38, I took a double handful of those small, broken, flinty bits of biscuit which generally go by the name of ‘midshipmen's nuts’.
1826W. N. Glascock Naval Sketch-Bk. (ed. 2) I. 8 Get your hammock slung... 'Cause,..none o' your ‘*midshipman's rolls’, you know! 1857H. E. Davenport Rovings on Land & Sea 280 If any of the hammocks are lashed in a slovenly manner, or merely bundled up in what is called a ‘midshipman's roll’, the owner is..made to secure it in a more ship-shape manner.
Hence ˈmidshipmanship, the office or position of a midshipman.
1789Cowper Let. in Pearson's 76th Catal. (1894) 16, I..rejoice with thee that thou hast succeeded in procuring a midshipmanship (there's a word for you) for the poor young man in question. 1857Chamb. Jrnl. VIII. 103 He was undergoing the preliminary ordeal of midshipmanship. |
