核心畫面
Picture a newborn calf in a field: legs not steady yet, staying close to its mother. That picture stretches only a little way — to the young of other big animals, and to the one still inside the mother. The 'back of the lower leg' meaning does not connect to it; the two share a spelling and are best learned as two separate words.
可以想成牧場上一頭剛出生的小牛:腿還站不太穩,緊跟在母牛旁邊。這個畫面往外延伸的範圍很有限——大象、鯨魚、長頸鹿這些…更多收起
可以想成牧場上一頭剛出生的小牛:腿還站不太穩,緊跟在母牛旁邊。這個畫面往外延伸的範圍很有限——大象、鯨魚、長頸鹿這些大型動物的幼獸也共用它,還有一個是母牛肚子裡尚未生下來的那一頭。至於「小腿肚」,跟這頭小牛接不上,兩者只是拼法相同,建議當成兩個字分開記(複數同樣都是 calves)。原始詞典資料9 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
calfnoun詞源 1/kɑːf/
- 1
A young cow or bull of any bovid, such as domestic cattle or buffalo.
- And Goldenhorns calved. A great day in the wilderness, a joy and a delight. They gave her flour-wash, and Isak himself saw to it there was no stint of flour, though he had carried it all the way himself, on his back. And there lay a pretty calf, a beauty, red-flanked like her mother, and comically bewildered at the miracle of coming into the world. In a couple of years she would be having calves of her own.
- 2
Leather made of the skin of domestic calves; especially, a fine, light-coloured leather used in bookbinding.
- We find now, that instead of leather made from sheep, calf, goat, and pig-skins, each having, when finished, its own characteristic surface, that sheepskins are got up to look like calf, morocco, or pigskin; that calf is grained to resemble morocco or so polished and fattened as to have but little character left; while goatskins are grained in any number of ways, and pigskin is often grained like levant morocco. So clever are some of these imitations that it takes a skilled expert to identify a leather when it is on a book. . . I am inclined to consider that calf, as a sound leather, has been manufactured out of existence, for it is unusual to find a 19th century calf binding of more than fifteen years old that does not show signs of decay.
- 3
The young of various animals, especially elephant, giraffe, reindeer, seal, or whale (also indiscriminately used of other animals).
- 4
A mass of ice broken from a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.
- 1915 (published), 1848 (first written), Elisha Kent Kane, Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack Our swell ceases with this wind, and the floes seem disposed to come together again; but the days of winter have passed by, and the interposing calves prevent the apposition of the edges
- 5
A small island, near a larger island.
- Situated in the north of the Irish Sea and to the south-west of the isle of Man, the Calf of Man is ideally placed on the bird migration routes over the western side of the British Isles. Its importance for migrating and breeding birds had been recognised long before the observatory was established in 1959. . . Visitors can explore the Calf as day visitors or can stay in the hostel accommodation. . .
- 6
A cabless railroad engine.
- 7
datedinformalAn awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
- some silly, doating, brainless calf
calfnoun詞源 2/kɑːf/
- 1
anatomymedicinesciencesThe back of the leg below the knee.
- 2
The muscle in the back of the leg below the knee.
- Sure, his calves are a little weak, but the rest of his physique is so overwhelming, he should place high.
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。