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Velvet is a woven cloth with a thick, soft, standing surface on one side made of very short cut threads, and a plain back. Stroke it one way and it looks dark; stroke it the other way and it looks light — that shifting shine is how you recognise it.
Velvet is a woven cloth velvet 是一種織物 with a thick, soft, standing surface on one side一面有著厚、軟、立起來的表面 made of very short cut threads由非常短的剪絨線做成, and a plain back另一面則是平的. Stroke it one way往一個方向撫摸它 and it looks dark看起來是深色的; stroke it the other way往另一個方向撫摸 and it looks light看起來是淺色的 — that shifting shine這種變化的光澤 is how you recognise it就是你認出它的方法
It has been an expensive cloth for hundreds of years, so it belongs to evening dresses, theatre curtains, jewellery boxes, thrones and old photographs, and it still signals money and drama today. From there English uses it for anything soft and rich to the touch or to the ear: 'her voice was velvet'.
It has been an expensive cloth for hundreds of years它已經是幾百年來的高級布料, so it belongs to evening dresses, theatre curtains, jewellery boxes, thrones and old photographs所以它會出現在晚禮服、劇院布幕、珠寶盒、王座和老照片裡, and it still signals money and drama today直到今天它依然象徵著財富與戲劇感. From there由此延伸 English uses it英文用它 for anything soft and rich to the touch or to the ear來形容任何觸感或聽感柔軟又豐厚的東西: 'her voice was velvet'像「her voice was velvet」
Several fixed phrases carry that feeling. An iron fist in a velvet glove means gentle manners hiding hard power. The velvet rope is the barrier that keeps ordinary people out of the special area. The Velvet Revolution is the name for the peaceful 1989 change of government in — smooth, no blood.
Several fixed phrases有幾個固定片語 carry that feeling帶著這種感覺. An iron fist in a velvet glove「an iron fist in a velvet glove」means gentle manners hiding hard power意思是溫和的外表底下藏著強硬的力量. The velvet rope「the velvet rope」is the barrier that keeps ordinary people out of the special area是指擋著一般人、不讓他們進入特殊區域的那條圍繩. The Velvet Revolution「The Velvet Revolution」is the name for the peaceful 1989 change of government in Czechoslovakia是指一九八九年捷克斯洛伐克那場和平政權更替的名稱 — smooth, no blood平順、沒有流血
Velvet is also the soft skin that covers a growing deer's . Mostly a noun, and often used before another noun: a velvet jacket, velvet curtains.
Velvet is also the soft skin velvet 也指那層軟皮 that covers a growing deer's antlers覆蓋在鹿角生長時外面. Mostly a noun它大多是名詞, and often used before another noun常常放在另一個名詞前面: a velvet jacket像 a velvet jacket, velvet curtains velvet curtains
組成Came into Middle English from Old Occitan veluet, and behind that Latin villus, 'shaggy hair, a tuft of hair'. So the name is simply describing what you see: a surface of tiny standing hairs. French velours is the same word by another road.
原始詞典資料13 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。
velvetnoun/ˈvɛlvɪt/
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A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side.
- For the first time since her husband's death, she had thrown off her weeds, and put on attire more suited to the occasion. She was richly, yet plainly dressed, in a purple velvet, with a hood of white point lace. Even her silent handmaids were surprised out of their ordinary propriety by her appearance.
- She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace,[…]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […] all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
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Very fine fur, including the skin and fur on a deer's antlers.
- His [a hart's] head when it commeth firſt out, hath a ruſſet pyll vpon it, the which is called Veluet, […]
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rareA female chinchilla; a sow.
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slangThe drug dextromethorphan.
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slangMoney acquired by gambling.
velvetverb/ˈvɛlvɪt/
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To cover with velvet or with a covering of a similar texture.
- Penmachno mill is situate where a stream has furrowed a deep channel, and velveted the rocks with the richest mosses […].
- Last week the scaffolds were up in the hall once more. This time the back wall is to be velveted in absorbent fiber glass […]
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cookingfoodlifestyleTo coat raw meat in starch, then in oil, preparatory to frying.
- Blanching cut and specially marinated chicken in oil or water prior to stir-frying is a technique common to Chinese restaurant kitchens. The 20-second bath tenderizes the chicken remarkably, hence the process has been dubbed "velveting" in English. Velveted chicken is half-cooked, will not stick to the pan, and needs almost no oil when stir-fried.
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To remove the velvet from a deer's antlers.
- 2014, "Top genetic selection produces biggest antlers," NZFarmer.co.nz, 12 July, 2014, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/10255646/Top-genetic-selection-produces-biggest-antlers Reacting to painkillers when velveted, Sovereign II was too sick to grow antlers last year, but has since recovered.
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To soften; to mitigate.
- She spoke very gently, full of compassion for the boy, velveting her reproach for me.
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to retract.
velvetadj/ˈvɛlvɪt/
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Made of velvet.
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Soft and delicate, like velvet; velvety.
- The fawn then rose up, and creeping gently about the room, touched the cheeks or hands of the slumbering inmates with its velvet tongue, but so softly that none were awakened.
- the cowslip's velvet head
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governmentpoliticsPeaceful; carried out without violence; especially as pertaining to the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia.
- What at the time of the initial agreement of Yeltsin, Shushkevich and Kravchuk to join together in a new 'Commonwealth of Independent States' had seemed like a reconstitution of the lands of ancient Rus, quickly turned out to be, in the words of the leading Russian-Ukrainian reformer Aleksandr Tsipko, merely a 'velvet disintegration'.
- The disintegration always took place within internal borders, whether it was velvet, as in the case of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, or bloody, like Yugoslavia's still unfinished break-up.
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。