| 释义 |
‖ zariba, zareba, n.|zəˈriːbə|
Also seriba, sariba, zerybeh, zareeba, zer(r)iba, zereba.
[Arab. zarībah pen or enclosure for cattle (zarb sheep-fold).]
a. In the Sudan and adjacent parts of Africa, A fence or inclosure, usually constructed of thorn-bushes, for defence against the attacks of enemies or wild beasts; a fenced or fortified camp.
1849O'Reilly tr. Werne's Exped. Sources White Nile II. 112 A shining seriba of reeds, the stalks of which..perhaps only afford resistance to tame animals. 1852Eliza Cook's Jrnl. 27 Mar. 337 The Sultan has planted a zerybeh, or circular inclosure, with two issues. 1867Baker Nile Trib. xii. 315 We employed ourselves..in cutting thorn branches, and constructing a zareeba. 1884Times 11 Mar. 5 The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) advanced this morning to Baker Pasha's zariba.
b. Applied to a formation of troops for defence against attack.
1887Times 9 Apr. 5/5 Forming a zariba, or square, to resist cavalry.
c. transf. and fig. In these uses usu. as zareba.
1885Glasgow Her. 19 Mar. 4/5 It is when he advances from these elementary zarebas that he loses himself in the wilderness, and, apparently from an inherent inability to state any fact correctly. 1898A. White in Nat. Rev. Aug. 804 The..Tsar..is..surrounded by a zereba of detail and enticed from affairs of State by organized diversions. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin iii. 42 The orchestra..took their places behind a zareba of bunting-covered biscuit-boxes and hired palms erected in front of the stage. 1940G. Greene Power & Glory ii. ii. 128 The shadows of the palms pointed at him like a zareba of sabres. 1961Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom vii. 52 Owing to his obiter dicta having to be filtered through a zareba of white hair, it was not always easy to catch exactly what Mr. Cornelius said. 1965G. Maxwell House of Elrig x. 139 The final approach to any birds' nest was an affair of struggle and achievement. My hand reaches through the twigged zareba of basket and basket handle, touches the soft lining, touches the firm intimacy of the eggs. 1974Author Spring 33 A novelist..has direct access to his readers, with no thorny zariba of a cast of actors to battle through. 1984Listener 3 May 24/2 The two previous ones faced the reader in their opening chapters with an almost impenetrable zareba of thickset descriptions of the committee structure.
d. attrib.
1895A. H. Keane Africa I. v. 245 The expression ‘zeriba country’ applied by some geographers to the northern slope of the Nile-Congo divide. 1901H. Vivian Abyss. vii. 184 A succession of enclosures, each with a zareba wall.
Hence zaˈriba v. trans., to surround or inclose with a zariba; intr. to construct or form a zariba.
188519th Cent. July 89 Orders were given to zereba ourselves... The Brigadier ordered the force to zereba on the best position that was near. 1886Contemp. Rev. June 850 A large garden, zerebaed in with aloes and henna. |
