| 释义 |
▪ I. pigeon, n.|ˈpɪdʒən|
Forms: 4–5 pejon, 5 -oun, pegion, -geon, -gon, pyjon, 5–6 pygeon, (6 pegyn, -gyon, 6 pigin, -gen, -gion, pygion, -gon), 7 pidgion, pydgion, (pigeing), 7–9 pidgeon, 5– pigeon.
[ME. pyjon, pejon, a. OF. pijon (13th c.), pyjoun young bird, esp. young dove, dove, mod.F. pigeon (whence the mod.Eng. spelling), = Pr. pijon, Sp. pichon, It. piccione:—late L. (3rd c.) pīpiōn-em (pīpio) a young cheeping bird, squab, f. pīpīre to chirp, cheep.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
c1390Form of Cury xlviii. (1780) 29 Peions ystewed. Take peions and stop hem with garlec ypylled and with gode erbes ihewe. c1430Two Cookery-bks. (E.E.T.S.) 58 Pyionys. Ibid. 109 Mynce þe rostid peiouns. c1450Ibid. 68 Peions rosted. 1467Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 399 Item, [my mastyr spent] in vij.xx peyre pegones, xj.s. viij.d. 1483Cath. Angl. 277/2 A Pigeon, pipio. 1486Bk. St. Albans A iv, The mawe of a pegeon. Ibid. C viij, The gut of a pegion. 1502Will of Moore (Somerset Ho.), A Welsh pygon. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 911 The pygions, les pigeons. 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xli. (1541) 31 Pygeons be easily digested. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 68 For kecheynge of pegyns in the nyght. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 168 For breeding of Pigions. 1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattle (1627) 273 Pigins dung, and hennes or poultry dung. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vi. 5 O ten times faster Venus Pidgions flye. 1663Pidgeon [see B. 2]. 1808A. Parsons Trav. v. 137 In shooting wild pidgeons.
B. Signification.
I.
†1. A young dove. Obs.
(Cf. Suff. dial. pigeon-gull = a young gull.)
c1440Promp. Parv. 396/1 Pyione, yonge dove, columbella. 14..in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 128 A pejon as law doth devyse Sche schuld eke offur as for hur trespace. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 58 Had goten two pygeons [Flemish orig. twee ionghe duuen] as they cam first out of her neste. 1530Palsgr. 254/1 Pygion a byrde, pigon, colombette. 1570Levins Manip. 165/34 A Pigion, pipio. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 171 Turtle Doues..the olde ones be not so good, as neither the Pigion is. 1601Holland Pliny x. xxxiv. 290 As well the male as the female be carefull of their young pigeons and love them alike.
2. a. A bird of the family Columbidæ, a dove, either wild or domesticated.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. 445, vi. peions for a peny, a fatte goos for .ii.d., a pygge for a peny. 1526Tindale Luke ii. 24 A payre off turtle doues or ij yonge pigions [νεοσσοὺς περιστερῶν, pullos columbarum, Wyclif twey culuere briddis]. 1570B. Googe Pop. Kingd. iv. (1880) 53 b, On Whitsunday, whyte Pigeons tame, in strings from heauen flie. 1592Davies Immort. Soul xxxii. xlvii, As Noah's Pigeon, which returned no more. 1663Pepys Diary 19 Oct., The Queene..was so ill as to be shaved, and pidgeons put to her feet, and to have the extreme unction given her by the priests. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 306 At Modena..pigeons are taught to carry letters to a place appointed, and bring back answers. 1790Bystander 376 The doctor was putting the pigeons to the feet of an old miser. 1857Buckle Civiliz. (1858) I. ix. 578 No Frenchman..could keep pigeons, unless he were a noble.
b. Many varieties and breeds are distinguished, the pigeon being a noted object of fancy breeding; as Barb or Barbary pigeon, carrier-pigeon, homing pigeon, nun pigeon, pouter pigeon, tumbler pigeon, etc.: among the distinct species are the bronze-, bronzed-, or gold-winged p., crown, crowned, or goura p., fruit p., ground p., nutmeg p., partridge p., , rock p., tooth-billed p., wild p., wood-pigeon: for the more important of which see the qualifying word; cf. also dove n. 1. Applied also with defining word to other birds, as Cape, hill, or mountain pigeon, a small species of petrel, Procellaria or Daption capensis, abundant at the Cape of Good Hope; diving or sea pigeon, the black guillemot or dovekie.
1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 84 The first Diving Pigeon I got..at Spitzbergen. 1707Mortimer Husb. I. 261 Pigeons or Doves are of several sorts,..as Wood-pigeons, Rock-pigeons, Stock or Ring-doves, Turtle-doves, Dovecoat-pigeons. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 89, I found a kind of wild Pidgeons, who built not as Wood Pidgeons in a Tree, but rather as House Pidgeons, in the Holes of the Rocks. 1731Medley Kolben's C.G. Hope II. 158 Call'd at the Cape the Hill or Mount Pigeon. 1819Shaw Gen. Zool. XI. i. 11 Red-Crowned Pigeon (Columba rubricapilla)..Native of Antiqua in the Isle of Panay. 1832J. Bischoff Van Diemen's Land II. 31 By far the most beautiful birds in the island..are called bronze-winged pigeons. 1884‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. 11 The lovely bronze-wing pigeons were plentiful then amid the wild forest tracks of Newtown. 1898Daily News 5 Jan. 2 Chequered blue dragon pigeons.
3. fig.
a. A young woman, a girl; a sweetheart; also, † a coward. Obs.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 80 Antaphrasis, when a word scornefully deliuered, is vnderstood by his contrary, as..of a blacke Moore woman to say: Will yee see a faire pigeon? 1592Greene Disput. Wks. (Grosart) X. 223 [When] they had spent vpon her what they had..then forsooth, she and her yoong Pigion [her daughter] turne them out of doores like prodigall children. 1604Dekker Honest Wh. i. i. Wks. 1873 II. 20 Sure hee's a pigeon, for he has no gall. 1682N. O. Boileau's Lutrin ii. 13 He had left her in the Lurch..And under colour of Religion Courted another pretty Pigeon. 1916Joyce Portrait of Artist iii. 116 Is that you, pigeon? 1940Music Makers May 37/3 Pigeon, a young girl. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 265 The basic imagery behind terms like..pigeon is the imagery of food. 1977J. Wambaugh Black Marble (1978) viii. 125 She accepted it graciously, thinking she must remember to give Philo a bonus for finding a little pigeon with tits big enough to bring old Landon McWhorter back to life.
b. slang. One who lets himself be swindled, esp. in gaming; a simpleton, dupe, gull; esp. in phrase to pluck a pigeon, to ‘fleece’ a person. Also in extended use. [= F. pigeon in same sense, in allusion to its harmlessness, and to pigeon-catching.]
1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 245 As wily a pigeon, as the cunning Goldsmith, that accused his neighbour, and condemned himselfe. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 112 This pigeon being not of full age, could not contract it without the consent of his mother. 1654Gayton Pleas. Notes 187 Nor is Sancho behind him for a Pigeon; both deluded commit equall errors. 1794Sporting Mag. IV. 47, I was instantly looked up to as an impending pigeon..and every preparation was made for the plucking. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iv. vii. ⁋4 A flatterer may play what game he likes against the pigeons of high life! 1862Thackeray Four Georges iv, He was a famous pigeon for the play-men; they lived upon him. 1941Sun (Baltimore) 14 Aug. 13/7 These amateur gamblers are the greatest pigeons I ever knew. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xvii. 136 So they handed me a white paper to sign... I signed... The rest was up to them. I was just a pigeon. 1959[see Murphy2 4]. 1962J. D. MacDonald Girl xi. 150 Anybody steals that much, they're a pigeon for the first people that get to him. 1977Tennis World Sept. 17/3 A ‘pigeon’ is a frequent victim—that is, until he plays out of his tree. 1978G. A. Sheehan Running & Being xii. 165 Whatever your game, you can always spot a pigeon. When I warm up for a road race I can usually tell at a glance the newcomers to the sport.
†c. A sharper of a particular kind: see quot. Obs. [Allusion to carrier-pigeon.]
1801Sporting Mag. XVIII. 101 Pigeons.—Sharpers who, during the drawing of the lottery, wait ready mounted, near Guildhall, and as soon as the first two or three numbers are drawn, which they receive from a confederate..ride with them..to some distant insurance office..where there is another of the gang, commonly a decent looking woman..to her he secretly gives the numbers, which she insures for a considerable sum.
d. = stool-pigeon s.v. stool n. 19 b.
1849National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 12 May 2/7 The Mayor of Philadelphia having discovered that an old pigeon known as Bill Forebaugh was accustomed to point out his officers to the different knucks who arrived in the city, determined to put a stop to this new lay. 1859G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 66 Pigeon, a thief that joins in with other thieves to commit a crime, and then informs the officer, who he pigeons for, and for this service the officer is supposed to be occasionally both deaf and blind. 1934R. Chandler in Black Mask Oct. 14/2 Don't come here again—..I don't like—pigeons. 1966Sunday Tel. (Brisbane) 15 May 15/1 In the underworld, this is the mark of the ‘copper’, ‘grass’, ‘nark’, ‘pigeon’, or ‘squealer’. 1971‘D. Shannon’ Ringer (1972) ix. 154 A lot of our pigeons offer the info to the other side too. 1976R. Rosenblum Sweetheart Deal i. 11 For years guarding witnesses remained a..shoestring operation. Rent a hotel room and keep the pigeon under wraps.
4. a. A flying target, used as a substitute for a real pigeon; also, a toy consisting of an imitation propeller which is made to fly in the air.
clay pigeon, a saucer of baked clay thrown into the air from a trap, as a mark at shooting-matches.
b. to fly the blue pigeon (Naut. slang): to heave the deep-sea lead.
1897Kipling Capt. Cour. 77 ‘I'll learn you how to fly the Blue Pigeon. Shooo!’.. The lead sang a deep droning song as Tom Platt whirled it round and round.
II. attrib. and Comb.
5. a. attributive, in sense ‘of a pigeon’, ‘of pigeons’, as pigeon-dung, pigeon-egg, pigeon-gun, pigeon-louse, pigeon-racing; ‘for, used by, or inhabited by pigeons’, as pigeon-basket, pigeon-box, pigeon-cote, pigeon-hutch, pigeon-loft (also fig.), pigeon-room, pigeon-roost, pigeon-tower; ‘containing or made of pigeons’, as pigeon-pie; b. objective and obj. gen., as pigeon-eating, pigeon-feeder, pigeon-keeper, pigeon-killer, pigeon-shooter, pigeon-shooting; c. instrumental, as pigeon-haunted adj.; d. similative, as pigeon-tailed, pigeon-tinted adjs.
1750Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 II. 206, I had..nailed against the wall of my house a *pigeon-box that would hold six pair.
1626Bacon Sylva §402 There was Wheat, steeped in Water..mixed with *Pigeon-Dung.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 77 Thou halfpenny purse of wit, thou *Pidgeon⁓egge of discretion.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 258 The *pigeon-feeder fills his own mouth with a watery mixture of canary-seeds and vetch seeds.
1892Greener Breech-Loader 131 Nor is it assumed that they alone can make good shooting *pigeon-guns.
1842Sir A. De Vere Song of Faith 207 *Pigeon-haunted chestnuts musical.
1844Zoologist II. 453 A *pigeon-hutch fastened against one of the walls.
1879L. Wright (title) Practical *Pigeon Keeper.
c1611Chapman Iliad xv. 220 Thus from th' Idæan height, Like air's swift *pigeon-killer, stoop'd the far⁓shot God of light.
1735J. Moore Columbarium 3 A *Pigeon Loft ought to be built to the South or South-west. 1891Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. v. 34 Do you mean that you can from this absurd pigeon-loft locate the wards in the night-time! 1969Times 4 Sept. 3/1 The difference between the sun's time at the pigeon loft, given by the pigeons' internal sense of time, and the time registered by the sun's position at the release site, gives a measure of the difference in longitude between the two points. 1977Evening Post (Nottingham) 27 Jan. 7/7 They also admitted two accusations of jointly entering two pigeons lofts as trespassers.
1655in M. M. Verney Mem. (1894) III. iv. 129 Madcap..brags..that she hath jeer'd you into good *pidgeon pies. These were soe good that there is not one left of them. 1721Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 41 (1754) 217 Built in the form of pidgeon-pye, A house there is for rooks to lie And roost in. 1779J. Woodforde Diary 15 Apr. (1924) I. 249 We had for dinner..a Pidgeon Pye. 1843Ainsworth's Mag. IV. 13 Swallowing a morsel of foie gras as uncognizantly as though it had been pigeon-pie. 1937Daily Herald 8 Feb. 7/4 Pigeon-pie parties, an old-fashioned country custom, will be renewed this week in England and Wales. 1978K. Bonfiglioli All Tea in China xx. 248 The black puddings, râgout of kidneys and pigeon pie..were barely touched.
1899Westm. Gaz. 3 May 10/1 We gather that *pigeon⁓racing is now almost a national sport.
1651Cleveland Poems 29 Like to a martyr'd Abbeys courser doom, Devoutly alter'd to a *Pigeon room.
1793Sporting Mag. Feb. 251 *Pigeon-shooting. Embellished with a beautiful Representation of a Pigeon Shooting Match. 1892Greener Breech-Loader ix. 234 Pigeon-shooting, against the practice of which many sportsmen protest..is of lowly origin.
1901W. Churchill Crisis ii. ix. 202 The red *pigeon-tailed coat. 1957W. Faulkner Town iv. 83 Come in a Pullman in striped britches and gold watch chain big enough to boom logs with and gold eyeglasses and even a gold toothpick and the pigeon-tailed coat.
1883H. W. V. Stuart Egypt 269 Dechney..abounds in *pigeon-towers.
6. a. Special Combs.: pigeon-cherry = pin-cherry (pin n. 13); † pigeon-diver, the black guillemot or dovekie; pigeon drop U.S. criminals' slang, (a) a form of confidence trick which begins with the dropping of a wallet before the victim or ‘pigeon’; (b) (see quot. 1959); so pigeon dropper; pigeon dropping = pigeon drop (a) ; pigeon-express = pigeon-post; pigeon-fancier, one who keeps and breeds fancy pigeons; so pigeon-fancy, -fancying; pigeon-fieldfare, the fieldfare, Turdus pilaris, or a variety of it; pigeon-flyer, one who lets homing pigeons fly, or takes part in pigeon-races; so pigeon-flying; † pigeon-foot = pigeon's foot: see b; pigeon-goose, an Australian goose, Cereopsis novæ hollandiæ, having a remarkably large cere; the Cape-Barren goose; pigeon grass, (U.S.) a grass of the genus Setaria, esp. S. glauca or S. viridis; pigeon-guillemot, Cepphus columba, a sea-fowl of the North Pacific; pigeon-hearted a., faint-hearted, timid, chicken-hearted; † pigeon-livered a., meek, gentle; pigeon man, see quot.; pigeon marl, dove-coloured marl, columbine marl; pigeon-match, a match at shooting pigeons released from traps at a fixed distance from the competitors; pigeon millet = pigeon grass; pigeon-pair, boy and girl twins; also, a family consisting of a son and daughter only; so called from a pigeon's brood, which usually consists of a male and female; also transf.; pigeon-post, the conveyance of letters or dispatches by homing pigeons; pigeon-poult, the young of a pigeon; pigeon ruby = pigeon's blood (see b); pigeon salt, see quot.; pigeon-shot, one skilled in pigeon-shooting; pigeon-tail, an American name of the pintail duck (Dafila acuta); pigeon-tick, see quot.; pigeon-weed U.S., the corn gromwell, Lithospermum arvense, or the spikenard, Aralia racemosa; pigeon-woodpecker, (U.S.) a flicker, Colaptes aureus, found in eastern North America.
1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 83 The *Pigeon-diver..one of the beautifullest birds of Spitzbergen.
1937E. H. Sutherland Professional Thief iii. 67 Among the short-con rackets, dropping the poke (also known as the *pigeon-drop) is frequently used. 1959Washington Post 18 Mar. a3/1 In the pigeon drop a confidence man tells his victim he has found a large amount of money and will share it if the victim will kick in some money as a show of good faith. 1961Harney & Cross Narcotic Officer's Notebk. vi. 118 Sometimes it was the ‘pigeon-drop’. A purse or billfold containing a considerable amount of money was dropped. The ‘sucker’ was allowed to find it right along with a member of the mob. 1979Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 22 July 2f/5 A Houston woman held on attempted theft charges claims to be part of a national ‘pigeon drop’ confidence ring.
1961Webster, Pigeon-dropper. 1977J. Wambaugh Black Marble (1978) vi. 76 *Pigeon droppers, pursepicks, muggers. Don't walk the Boulevard at night.
1850Green's St. Louis Directory for 1851 p. xviii, Such practice is immensely more disrespectable than procuring money under false pretenses—no more honorable than veritable *pigeon-dropping. 1955K. Sullivan Girls who go Wrong (1956) xii. 128 Elmira became the more proficient of the pair at the badger game—flim flam and pigeon dropping. 1970C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 91 Pigeon dropping, confidence game-playing.
1807Southey Lett. from Eng. I. xxi. 233 The Columbarians or *pigeon-fanciers. 1822M. Edgeworth Let. 19 Jan. (1971) 326 He explained to me what is meant by being in the fancy—pigeon fanciers—rabbit fanciers &c. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxii, You were quite a pigeon-fancier. 1899Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 7/3 A well-known homer pigeon⁓fancier. 1941[see dart n. 1 d]. 1976Deeside Advertiser 9 Dec. 2/3 He was employed at the C.E.G.B. Power Station and a keen pigeon fancier.
1879L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper v, It is almost impossible to make any real mark in the *pigeon⁓fancy without exhibiting in some form. Ibid. ix, The almond Tumbler..has done more to raise the tone of pigeon-fancy than any other breed.
a1845Barham Cousin Nicholas xxiv, A flight of *pigeon-fieldfares..alighted among the berries of the shrubbery.
1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 124 For membership of the Sanhedrim..a man must not be a dicer, usurer, *pigeon-flyer, or dealer in the produce of the Sabbatical year.
1898Westm. Gaz. 19 Apr. 2/3 [Places] in which *pigeon-flying is a sport more honoured in the breach than the observance.
1736Ainsworth Lat. Dict., *Pigeon foot (an herb), Geranium, pes columbinus.
1890Cent. Dict. s.v. Cereopsis, There is but one species..called the *pigeon-goose.
1838H. Colman 1st Rep. Agric. Mass. (Mass. Agric. Survey) 128 There were several patches of black or *pigeon grass when the dyke was built. 1901C. T. Mohr Plant Life Alabama 358 Chactochloa glauca... Pigeon Grass. 1926F. W. Hilgendorf Weeds N.Z. facing p. 17 (caption) Pigeon grass (Setaria glauca).
1621Fletcher Pilgrim iii. iv, I never saw such *pigeon-hearted people! 1840Dickens Old C. Shop lxii, This fellow is pigeon-hearted, and light-headed.
1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 603 But I am *Pigeon-Liuer'd, and lacke Gall To make oppression bitter.
1903Westm. Gaz. 2 Dec. 12/2 Those London Stock Exchange celebrities of the thirties, the ‘*pigeon men’. They established a service of pigeons between London and Paris. 1601*Pigeon marle [see columbine a. 3]. 1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. x. 32 Columbine or Pidgeon Marle lies in lumpes and cloddes. 1764Museum Rust. II. 377 The auger brought up marle..some of it mixed with blue veins (which I will here call pigeon marle).
1810Sporting Mag. XXXV. 140 A *pigeon match for a stake of 200 guineas.
1948A. L. Blomquist Grasses N. Carolina 186 One species (S[etaria] viridis) known as ‘*pigeon millet’ or ‘foxtail’ is an obnoxious weed in cultivated ground in some of the Northern states.
1847–78Halliwell, *Pigeon-pair. 1878Hardy Ret. Native I. ii. i. 240 She and Clym Yeobright would make a very pretty pigeon pair—hey? 1900in Eng. Dial. Dict. 1954Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxi. 34 Pigeon pair, a boy and girl, usually brother and sister, close enough in age to be congenial playmates. 1960Woman 23 Apr. 5/2 A mother there had twins—boy and girl—on February 29, brother and sister for her pigeon pair born on the previous Leap Year Day. 1964D. Varaday Gara-Yaka xx. 178, I recognized Moll [sc. a lion] in the harem-nursery with three lively youngsters, while the two older females both appeared to have chipped in with a pigeon-pair each.
1873Lytton Parisians xii. xv, We learnt that through a *pigeon-post. 1892Daily News 5 Nov. 5/5 The Caliphs made the pigeon post a regular institution in the Nile delta. Ibid., There were six pigeon-posts between Cairo and Damascus, and ten between the latter city and Behnessa. 1899Westm. Gaz. 7 Nov. 7/2 In the pigeon-post message of Friday no reference to the use of infantry is made. 1909Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 661/2 Extensive practice is carried out in..photographing forts and positions of troops, and sending the films by means of pigeon-post to be developed and printed at headquarters. 1963Times 3 May 13/7 It also became, thanks to Julius Reuter and his pigeon post of 1850, a vital link in the network of telegraphic communications. 1975Times 15 Mar. 14/7 It will cost 7p to have a first-class letter delivered... To set up a pigeon post is remarkably cheap and easy.
1885Burton Arab. Nts. II. 50 On the night of the consummation they cut the throat of a *pigeon-poult.
1897Daily News 23 Feb. 6/2 Colour shades ranging from..pale rose to intense *pigeon ruby red.
1678Phil. Trans. XII. 1063 A fift sort is *Pigeon Salt, which is nothing but the Brine running out through the crack of a Phat, and hardens to a clod on the outside over the fire.
1894Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 3/1 A sportsman of renown in many branches, especially as a ‘*pigeon-shot’.
1902Webster Suppl., *Pigeon-tick, (a) A parasitic mite (Argas reflexus) found on pigeons. (b) The common bird mite.
1785Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. I. 431 Aralia... Berry-Bearing Angelica. Shot Bush. *Pigeon Weed. Blossoms white. Berries black. Common in new plantations. 1851J. F. W. Johnston Notes on N. Amer. I. 305 Richer clover also had come up on another drained spot, and less of the pigeon-weed..with which this clay land is infested. 1889G. Vasey Agric. Grasses U.S. (new ed.) 103 Pigeon-Weed..grows chiefly in cultivated grounds.
1844J. E. DeKay Zool. N.Y. ii. 192 This species..is called Highhole, Yucker, Flicker, Wake-up and *Pigeon Woodpecker..in this State. 1847Thoreau Let. 15 Feb. in Corr. (1958) 175, I remember a pigeon-woodpecker's nest in the grove on the east side of the yard. 1870[see flicker n.4]. 1917T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. II. 163 Flicker. Colaptes auratus auratus... Clape; Pigeon Woodpecker; Yellowhammer. 1955Amer. Speech XXX. 181 Of bird names given for size, consider:..pigeon woodpecker.
b. Combs. with pigeon's: pigeon's blood, attrib. (of a ruby) dark red, rather lighter than beef's blood; pigeon's egg, a bead of Venetian glass, of the shape and size of the egg of a pigeon; pigeon's-foot (= F. pied de pigeon), dove's-foot (Geranium columbinum, G. molle); pigeon's grass [cf. Gr. περιστερεών, a kind of verbena, f. περιστερά dove], the common vervain; pigeon's throat, see quot.; pigeon's wing, (a) see quot. 1884; (b) = pigeon-wing 3 (q.v. for quot.); (c) a type of wig worn in the 18th century; also attrib.
1894Daily News 13 Apr. 6/6 If this were a real *pigeon's blood ruby it might command a price of {pstlg}700 a carat. 1894Times 14 Apr. 15/5 The stone..was made up to resemble a pigeon's blood stone.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxli. 793 Commonly called in Latin Pes Columbinus:..it may be called..in English Doues foote, and *Pigeons foote. 1706Phillips, Pigeon's-Foot. 1884Miller Plant-n. 199 Geranium columbinum, Pigeon's-foot Crane's-bill.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxxxv. 581 Veruain is called..in English..of some *Pigeons grasse, or Columbine, because Pigeons are delighted to be amongst it, as also to eate thereof, as Apuleius writeth. 1884in Miller Plant-n.
1883Cassell's Fam. Mag. Oct. 698/2 The newest colour for this purpose is ‘*pigeon's throat’, a pretty blue-green shade.
1753*Pigeon's wing [see negligent n. 2]. 1884Cassell's Fam. Mag. Apr. 312/1 Such delicate mixtures as pigeon's-wing—blue, grey, and pink blended—will be used in some of the best dresses.
1966J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 113/1 Pigeon's wing periwig, a man's wig dressed with two horizontal rolls above the ears. The top, sides and back being dressed smooth and plain. This style was worn with different styles of queue.
Add:[3.] e. One who carries a journalist's report from one country to another in order to evade censorship. Cf. sense *2 b of the vb. Journalists' slang.
1973Guardian 19 May 13/3 A ‘pigeon’ is someone who carries a journalist's story from one country to another and then sees that it is cabled to the journalist's home office. 1980Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Feb. 84/1 To get their stories out journalists must either make an eight-hour drive through the Khyber Pass into Pakistan..or they can use ‘pigeons’, the journalists' trade name for someone who carries news despatches by hand.
▪ II. pigeon, v.
[f. pigeon n.]
1. trans. To treat as a pigeon, make a pigeon of (see pigeon n. 3 b); to gull, cheat, delude, swindle; esp. at cards or any kind of gaming.
1675Cotton Scoffer Scoft 2 Of Lies, and Fables, which did Pigeon The Rabble into false Religion. 1785G. A. Bellamy Apology VI. 69 They have pigeoned me out of my money. 1805T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. (1806) II. 252 They mean to pigeon him, as their phrase is. 1807E. S. Barrett Rising Sun II. 60 Having one night been pigeoned of a vast property. 1859Thackeray Virgin. xlvi, You sit down with him in private to cards, and pigeon him.
2. To send (a message) by a pigeon.
1870Pall Mall G. 25 Nov. 5 Gambetta has ‘pigeoned’ a message to-day..that ought to be very reassuring.
Hence ˈpigeoned ppl. a., ˈpigeoning vbl. n. (in quot. 1873 = subsisting on pigeons). Also ˈpigeonable a., easily cheated, gullible; ˈpigeoner, a swindler, a sharper.
1844Tupper Heart vi. 58 Patron of two or three *pigeonable city sparks. 1853Blackw. Mag. Oct. 450 A knowledge of human nature under its more credulous and pigeonable aspect.
1777Gamblers 45 *Pigeon'd Jockies curse thy deeper wit.
1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. 110 You might divide them into two parties—the *pigeoners and the pigeoned.
1808E. Sleath Bristol Heiress III. 222 She was not worth *pigeoning. 1873Leland Egypt. Sk. Bk. 70 He married the lady who put him up to pigeoning.
Add:[2.] b. transf. To smuggle (a news report) out of a country by means of a ‘pigeon’ (sense *3 e). Journalists' slang.
1973Guardian 19 May 13/3 Many journalists here [in Cambodia] choose to pigeon all but the most innocuous of stories. 1980Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Feb. 84/1 Overwhelmingly the material from Afghanistan has been ‘pigeoned’ out of the country.
▪ III. pigeon
see pidgin
▪ IV. pigeon (English)
see pidgin. |
