| 释义 |
▪ I. steaming, vbl. n.|ˈstiːmɪŋ|
[-ing1.]
The action of the verb steam, in various senses.
1.
†a. The exhaling of odour.
†b. The glowing of flame.
c. Emission of vapour, fuming (in quots. fig.).
a1100Aldhelm. Glosses 3490 (Napier) Fraglantiam .i. odorem, steminge. c1440Promp. Parv. 474/1 Stemynge, or leemynge of fyyr, flammacio. 1675J. Owen Indwelling Sin vii. (1732) 77 It [sin] darkens the Mind..through the steaming of the Affections, heated with the noisom Lusts that have laid hold on them. 1819R. L. Sheil Evadne iv. ii. 64 You wonder That tears are dropping from my flaming eyelids, But 'tis the steaming of a burning heart.
2. The process of subjecting to the action of steam.
1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 117 The practice of steaming [potatoes] was not known in those days. 1862C. O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing s.v. Steam colours, The damper the steam the sooner will the steaming be done. 1868Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 427 Steaming is done only twice a week, the food keeping warm three or four days in the box.
attrib.1745De Coetlogon's Hist. Arts & Sci. II. 106/2 A Steaming-Bason [used in hat-making]. 1832Min. Evid. Comm. Factories Bill 29 They all had 4s. that worked at Mr. Noble's steaming-mill.
3. The production of steam in a boiler. Also attrib.
1874Raymond 6th Rep. Mines 39 The Mount Diablo coal is used to a very great extent for steaming. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 146 Whether wood can be procured in quantity sufficient for steaming purposes.
4. a. Travelling by steamboat or steamship.
1836Southern Lit. Messenger II. 696 Steaming from Washington to Baltimore is an improvement upon that route at least. 1853Hawthorne Eng. Note-Bks. (1883) I. 416, I went over to the Royal Rock Hotel, about fifteen or twenty minutes' steaming from this side of the river. 1883F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius viii, Miss Skeat also thought sailing much more poetic than steaming. 1913J. H. Morrison On Track Pioneers xxi. 98 Eight hundred miles of swift steaming down the Coromandel Coast brings us to Madras.
attrib.1889Pall Mall Gaz. 9 May 5/1 The City of Paris..arrived at New York yesterday, her steaming time from Queenstown to Sandy Hook being 5 days 23 hours 7 minutes.
b. Comb., as steaming light, a white light carried on the masthead of a steamship under way at sea by night.
1909Man. Seamanship (Admiralty) II. i. 29 Navigation lights,..oil ones..consist of steaming light, in charge of 2nd captain of forecastle, who is responsible for placing it; after steaming light..; starboard bow light..; and port bow light. 1947Sea Breezes iv. 139/2 A steamer appeared, also carrying steaming lights.
5. With up. In Agric., the provision of extra food to farm animals as preparation for reproduction.
1943R. Boutflour in Agriculture L. 306 It is now over twenty years since I coined the expression ‘steaming up’; the reason for its choice was to imply that a definite preparation was required. 1947V. C. Fishwick Dairy Farming ii. 156, I believe in steaming-up and preparation for calving. This is how you get the milk. 1953K. Russell Princ. Dairy Farming xiii. 153 The amount of steaming-up ration to be fed as concentrates is then decided by two factors—the condition of the cow or heifer and her probable milking capacity. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. 122/3 Cows require ‘steaming up’ prior to calving.
Add:6. colloq. The action, by a gang, of passing rapidly through a public place (or train, etc.) robbing bystanders (or passengers) by force of numbers.
Evidence to substantiate the U.S. origin of the term alleged in quot. 19871 is not forthcoming.
1987Hackney Gaz. 24 Apr. 48/1 ‘Steaming’ gangs will return—police. Hackney's steaming mobs laid low at the weekend—but a senior policeman has warned that the giant gangs of muggers will return... The gangs call their terrifying form of robbery ‘steaming’, a term first coined in America's violent inner city ghettos. 1987Daily Tel. 2 Sept. 11/5 This was the first time I had seen ‘steaming’, the name given to open stealing in numbers. A gang of marauding youths, acting quickly and then dispersing on a pre-arranged plan, are hard to resist. 1988Times 8 July 4/1 Four youths were acquitted yesterday..of conspiring to commit robbery during the ‘steaming’ of a London Underground train.
▪ II. ˈsteaming, ppl. a.
[-ing2.]
That steams.
†1. Glowing, flaming. Obs.
a1541Wyatt Of meane & sure Estate 53 Under a stole she spied two stemyng eyes In a rounde head. 1583B. Melbancke Philotimus 66 A cat in seing with her steeming eies.
2. a. That emits steam or vapour.
a1637B. Jonson Praises Country Life 66 To view..The wealthy houshold swarme of bondmen met, And 'bout the steeming Chimney set! 1667Milton P.L. v. 186 Ye Mists and Exhalations that now rise From Hill or steaming Lake. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 68 Nor near the steaming Stench of muddy Ground. 1735Somerville Chase i. 321 Soon the sagacious Brute..the steaming Vapour snuffs Inquisitive. 1799Wordsw. Two Apr. Mornings 10 Through the grass, And by the steaming rills. 1860Dickens, etc. Message fr. Sea iii. Christmas Stories (1874) 164 At the upper end of this room stood long stoves like metal counters, laden with steaming pans. 1865Le Fanu Guy Deverell vii. I. 96 He..pulled up his steaming horse by the station. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. xiv, The sun still shining mercilessly on the steaming marsh. 1899E. Phillpotts Human Boy 28 A steaming glass of hot grog is what you want.
b. quasi-adv. in phr. steaming hot.
1686E. Verney in V. Mem. (1899) IV. 381 For fear..you should catch harm, for as I did once coming out of the Theatre at a publick Act when it was very full and stiaming-hot [sic], and walkin a Broad in the cold. 1815Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxxiii, Then on the board his sword he toss'd, Yet steaming hot. 1907J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo xiii. 150 A cup of steaming hot coffee.
3. Used as a substitute for a strong expletive: consummate, ‘blithering’. slang.
1962Listener 13 Dec. 1024/3 A cautionary tale concerning a real steaming nit of a British civilian. 1965A. Garner Elidor xix. 147 Roland! You great steaming chudd! Come back! |
