| 释义 |
varsity|ˈvɑːsɪtɪ|
Also 'varsity.
[Colloquial abbreviation of university. Cf. the late 17th cent. form versity.]
a. University. Now (in the U.K.) somewhat joc. exc. in varsity match, a sporting contest, esp. the annual Rugby football match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
1846in Brasenose Ale 84 To victory we steered, And o'er the vanquished Varsity Our flag triumphant reared. 1863Baily's Mag. Jan. 360, I had conjured up all the most extravagant and erroneous ideas as to my ‘Varsity career’. 1872H. Kingsley Hornby Mills, etc. II. 66, I have such faith in the old University (never use that horrid word 'varsity, my lad; don't vulgarise the old place). 1885A. Edwardes Girton Girl III. xvi. 291, I'm darned..if it be'ant my Varsity man, after all! 1888Quiller-Couch in Echoes fr. the Oxford Mag. (1890) 105 We'll dance at the 'Varsity Ball. 1908E. H. W. Meyerstein Let. 21 Oct. (1959) 33 It seems to me that the real attractions of varsity life are reserved for the sportsman and the loafer. 1921Granta 30 Nov. 146/1 What would you do if in the 'Varsity match just as you were off, on a clear half-way run down the field somebody ripped your shorts off? 1927C. Connolly Let. 25 Jan. in Romantic Friendship (1975) 228 O blessed chastity (rare at the varsity). 1967F. Sargeson Hangover iii. 19 And that damn cleaning man across from the varsity. 1979Times 6 Dec. 4 (heading) The varsity match. 1982Guardian Weekly 27 June 23 [He] would become the first university Blue to miss the Varsity match because he will be playing [cricket] for England. Ibid. 19 Dec. 23 Cambridge won 20-13, but on the next day Oxford had some revenge in winning the soccer varsity match at Wembley 4–2. 1983Metro (Auckland) Feb. 13/4 Instead he went to varsity with the ambition of taking a science degree.
b. U.S. Applied attrib. to sporting events, teams, etc., at or of a university or college. Occas. absol., a college team. (See also quot. 1930.)
1891Outing Dec. 241/1 The 'varsity captain whistled a lively air. 1898Ibid. June 305/1 The..excitement generally attendant upon..trips by 'varsity nines. 1902L. L. Bell Hope Loring (1908) 79 Being on the 'Varsity football team. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude viii. 278 It's Gordon's last race, his last appearance on a 'varsity. 1930Amer. Speech V. 243 Varsity..is applied always to a student team, as in athletics or debate, not to an institution. 1973R. Ludlum Matlock Paper iv. 32 The coach of varsity soccer. 1978Nature 29 June 794/1 In the intercollegiate (‘varsity’) sports, which play a large role in American colleges, Conant replaced an autonomous body led by the alumni association, which is the norm in American universities and is the source of athletic scholarships, by a departmental structure administered by a faculty committee. 1978New Yorker 9 Oct. 184/3 The Harvard varsity..came up a winner 10-0, against Massachusetts. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 1d/4 He went on to stardom at Niles McKinley High School... McKinley had a 21-6-1 record in Sammy's three years of varsity football. 1980N.Y. Times 1 June xxiii. 12/3 Classic Yale-Harvard Regatta in New London... The four-mile varsity race..will be rowed on the Thames River.
▸ varsity letter n. N. Amer. a cloth initial, typically the first letter in the name of a school or university and intended to be sewn on to the recipient's coat or sweater, awarded to a student athlete who competes on the institution's first or varsity team.
1899N.Y. Times 12 Feb. 8/1 The members of the Yale golf team are anxious to wear the *'Varsity letter ‘Y’ upon their golf coats and have petitioned the University Athletic Association for permission to do so. 1959F. J. McDonald Educ. Psychol. iv. 91 The student who strives for academic success and wants to win a varsity letter in football, may be satisfying different needs in each case. 2002C. Rushman Art of Predictive Astrol. ii. 65 He's only sixteen years old and has varsity letters in three sports, so that's where the energy is going for him. |
