Chinese--prophetes.ai

Chinese, a. and n.
  (tʃaɪˈniːz)
  [f. china + -ese: in F. chinois. In 16th c. † Chinish was used.]
  A. adj.
  1. Of or pertaining to China. Chinese compliment: a pretended deference to the opinions of others, when one's mind is already made up.

1577 Eden & Willes Hist. Trav. 260 Whence the Chinishe nation haue theyr prouision for shyppyng. 1644 Evelyn Diary 22 Oct., Those of Chinese kings. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. 59 The Chinese language. 1878 J. H. Gray China i, There can be..no doubt of the great antiquity of the Chinese Empire. 1882 B. M. Croker Proper Pride I. vii. 144 Your asking me if I take exception to any of your arrangements is only a Chinese compliment.

2. In the specific names of many natural and artificial productions obtained from China, e.g. Chinese-bellflower, Chinese cherry, Chinese crab, Chinese gall, Chinese gelatine, Chinese glue, Chinese indigo, Chinese pear, Chinese pitcher-plant, Chinese varnish, Chinese water-lily, Chinese yam, etc.; Chinese artichoke, Stachys affinis (formerly S. sieboldii), a herb of the family Labiatæ, cultivated as a vegetable; Chinese-balance (see quot.); Chinese block, an oblong slotted wooden block used esp. by jazz drummers; Chinese-blue, a mixture of cobalt-blue and flake white; Chinese box, one of a nest of boxes: see nest n. 6; Chinese cabbage, one of two brassicas, Brassica pekinensis or B. chinensis; Chinese-capstan (see quot.); Chinese Chippendale, Chippendale furniture combining straight lines with Chinese bamboo and lattice motifs; Chinese copy, a precise drawing of a structure, piece of apparatus, etc., made from its appearance only without other information; a slavishly exact copy (see also quot. 1920); Chinese crescent = Chinese pavilion; Chinese cut Cricket (see quot. 1956); Chinese fire, in pyrotechnics, a composition consisting of gunpowder, nitre, charcoal, sulphur, and small cast-iron borings; Chinese gooseberry, the N.Z. name for the plant and fruit of Actinidia chinensis, a deciduous fruiting vine; Chinese-grass = China-grass; Chinese-lantern, a collapsable lantern of thin coloured paper, chiefly used in illuminations; Chinese lantern (plant), Physalis alkekengi, a plant of the family Solanaceæ, grown for the decorative effect of the orange-coloured, inflated calyx; Chinese laundry, a laundry operated by Chinese; Chinese layering = air-layering (air n.¹ B. II.); Chinese pavilion (see quot.); Chinese primrose, Primula sinensis, a well-known early flowering window-plant; Chinese puzzle (see puzzle n. 3 b); Chinese red = chrome red; Chinese tumbler, a toy figure so constructed as to regain its balance from any position; Chinese vermilion, a bright, yellowish-red pigment; Chinese wall [after the defensive wall built between China and Mongolia in the 3rd c. b.c.], (a) transf. and fig. an insurmountable barrier (to understanding, etc.); (b) Stock Exchange, a prohibition against the passing of confidential information from one department of a financial institution to another; Chinese-wax, see China- wax; Chinese wheel (see quot.); Chinese whispers = Russian scandal (a) s.v. Russian a. 2 e; Chinese-white, white oxide of zinc, a valuable pigment; Chinese-windlass (see quot.); Chinese-yellow, a bright sulphuret of arsenic, formerly brought from China.

1902 L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. IV. 1714/1 Chorogi. *Chinese or Japanese Artichoke. Knotroot. 1950 Metcalfe & Chalk Anat. Dicotyledons II. 1051 The tubers of the so-called Chinese artichoke (Stachys sieboldi Miq.) are edible.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Chinese-balance, a form of the steelyard having four points of suspension, and as many quadrated sides to the weight-arm of the lever.

1926 Leedy Mfg. Co. Catal. ‘N’ 36 Chee Foo *Chinese Blocks are of the same high-grade quality as all other drummers' accessories of this brand. 1946 R. Hill in A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music vii. 107 The use of the Chinese block in the finale has led some undiscerning critics to claim the influence of jazz.

1829 R. C. Sands Writings (1834) II. 57 Some of the members..thus compacted like *Chinese boxes. 1921 V. Woolf Mon. or Tues. 78 Like a vast nest of Chinese boxes..turning ceaselessly one within another the city murmured. 1964 M. A. K. Halliday et al. Ling. Sci. ii. 34 There is no rank scale in lexis: no ‘Chinese box’ arrangement of pattern-carrying units.

1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist v. 627 The *Chinese Cabbage..is an annual, apparently intermediate between the cabbage and the turnip. 1885 W. Robinson tr. Vilmorin-Andrieux's Veget. Garden 147 Chinese Cabbage, or Pe-tsai..differs entirely in appearance from the Cabbages of Europe, being rather like a Cos Lettuce in aspect. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Dec. 523/3 Chinese cabbage is not grown to a great extent by home gardeners.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Chinese-capstan, a differential hoisting or hauling device, having a vertical axis, and therein only differing from the differential windlass.

1922 S. Lewis Babbitt v. 59 The reading-room in *Chinese Chippendale. 1924 A. E. W. Mason House of Arrow xiii. 153 The writing-table of Chinese Chippendale. 1943 D. Welch Maiden Voyage vii. 52 The librarian was showing us some Chinese Chippendale chairs.

1920 Hansard Commons CXXXV. 1490 A *Chinese copy..is..a copy with the words struck out showing the alterations. 1964 Evening Standard 14 Oct. 11/3 Although these missiles are being bought from the United States each consignment will include spare parts sufficient for four or five years. This means that..there would be time to manufacture in this country what the Navy calls ‘Chinese copies’.

1882 Garden 21 Jan. 46/3 Among deciduous trees that flower about the end of April..one of the most beautiful is the *Chinese Crab.

1937 Daily Express 28 Jan. 18/2 Farnes, bowling really fast, twice took Leyland's leg stump in a few minutes, the batsman trying to make what Duckworth called ‘*Chinese cuts’. 1956 R. Alston Test Commentary ix. 62 Oakman edged an intended off-drive past the leg-stump for four, a stroke variously described as a Chinese cut, a Surrey cut or a Staffordshire cut.

1869 Eng. Mech. 24 Dec. 354/2 *Chinese or Japanese galls..are supposed to be produced by a..species of aphis on a terebinthinous plant.

1925 Weekly News (Auckland) 1 Oct. 62 The *Chinese gooseberry..has been introduced into Auckland. 1944 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Feb. 111/1 The Chinese gooseberry, the fruit of a vine imported from China, is gaining increasing popularity in New Zealand. Ibid. 112/3 In many ways the Chinese gooseberry resembles the grape-vine.

1825 in Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1027 *Chinese lanterns are hung. 1901 L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. III. 1320/2 P[hysalis] Alkekengi var. Franchetii, Hort. Chinese Lantern Plant. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xvii. 163 Shrubs of Chinese lanterns with pods that crack when squeezed.

1881 Lady Monkswell Diary 12 Nov. in Vict. Diarist (1944) 96 When I passed through New York before I had not noticed the *Chinese laundries. 1961 Times 2 Oct. 3/4 The Widow Twankey in her Chinese laundry.

[1886 G. Nicholson Illustr. Dict. Gardening II. 244/1 This is sometimes called the *Chinese method of Layering, presumably on account of it being more generally adopted in China.] 1900 L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. II. 894/2 This kind of propagation is known as air-layering, Chinese layering or circumposition. 1934 Chinese layering [see air-layering s.v. air n.¹ B. II.].

1880 Grove Dict. Mus. I. 346/1 s.v., *Chinese Pavilion, Chinese Crescent..consists of a pole, with several transverse brass plates of some crescent or fantastic form, and generally terminating at top with a conical pavilion or hat..On all these parts a number of very small bells are hung which the performer causes to jingle.

1825 Curtis's Bot. Mag. LII. 2564 (heading) Primula Sinensis. *Chinese Primrose. 1858, 1887 Chinese Primrose [see primrose n. 2]. 1952 A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 397 P[rimula] sinensis, ‘Chinese Primrose’, various [colours], winter and spring, 9 in., China.

1892 W. Crookes tr. R. von Wagner's Man. Chem. Technol. iii. 480 Conspectus of inorganic pigments... Reds... Vermilion, cinnabar, *Chinese red (HgS). 1935 Discovery Aug. 240/2 A wooden fence painted in Chinese red.

c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 5 The common toy, the *Chinese tumbler.

1819 Pantologia s.v. China, The tsi-chu, or varnish tree, which produces the admirable *Chinese varnish.

1886 H. C. Standage Artists' Man. Pigments v. 48 *Chinese vermilion, or Carmine vermilion. 1962 R. G. Haggar Dict. Art Terms 75/1 Chinese vermilion, genuine vermilion.

1907 C. J. Bullock Sel. Readings in Econ. xx. 672 The cheap prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all *Chinese walls. 1934 T. S. Eliot Eliz. Essays 22 After the erection of the Chinese Wall of Milton, blank verse has suffered not only arrest but retrogression. 1941 Auden New Year Let. ii. 34 They fought over their premises, Shut out from Eden by the bar And Chinese Wall of Barbara. 1941 Koestler Scum of Earth 269 It succumbed..to a social phenomenon, which it might be appropriate to call the ‘Chinese Wall psychosis’. 1979 Amer. Banker 25 Jan. 5/3 The Chinese Wall question has been raised anew. But the Morgan spokesman says the bank sees no conflict. 1984 Nat. Westminster Bank Q. Rev. Nov. 36 The increase in risk of conflict of interests arising from the conglomeration of financial activities can be contained by erecting ‘Chinese Walls’ among the various activities carried out by a single firm.

1819 Pantologia s.v. Chinese, *Chinese wheel is an engine..for raising water from rivers to irrigate plantations of sugar canes.

1964 Guardian 13 Mar. 5/6 The children's game of ‘*Chinese whispers’..in which whispered messages were passed around the room and the version which came back to the starting point bore no relation to the original message. 1984 T. Augarde Oxf. Guide Word Games xviii. 167 This is the basis for a game which ‘Professor Hoffmann’..calls Russian Gossip (also known as Chinese Whispers). The participants are arranged in a circle, and the first player whispers a story or a message to the next player, and so on round the circle. The original story is then compared with the final version, which has often changed beyond recognition.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Chinese-windlass, a differential windlass in which the cord winds off one part of the barrel and on to the other.

B. n.
1. a. A native of China. [The plural Chineses was in regular use during 17th c.: since it became obs. Chinese has been sing. and pl.; in modern times a sing. Chinee has arisen in vulgar use in U.S. (So sailors say Maltee, Portuguee.)]

1606 E. Scott (title) An exact Discourse of the East Indians as well Chyneses and Jauans. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 438 Sericana, where Chineses drive With Sails and Wind, thir canie Waggons light. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xv. 406 The Chinese in general are tall. 1703 Cunningham in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1206 Saying that the Chineses are strangers to the art of grafting. 1842 Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 228 The Chinese have long been the most numerous and powerful of these nations. 1878 J. H. Gray China xiv, If a Chinese feared or expected something from a foreigner.

b. sing. Chinee.

1871 B. Harte That Heathen Chinee, The heathen Chinee is peculiar.

c. Comb., as Chinese-owned.

1881 in Nature XXV. 179 Large and well-appointed steamers, *Chinese-owned and manned.

2. The Chinese language.

1727–51 Chambers Cycl. I. s.v., The Chinese has no analogy to any other language in the world. 1870 Farrar Grk. Syntax §6 Chinese has never possessed cases or inflections of any kind.

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   Add: [A.] [2.] Chinese leaf = pe-tsai n., used esp. in salads; also in pl., the leaves of this vegetable; cf. Chinese cabbage above.

1976 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. (rev. ed.) 212 *Chinese leaves are a useful addition to the ranks of vegetables available mid-November until early June. 1978 J. Grigson Vegetable Bk. (1980) 221 Chinese leaf can be cooked like other, lustier cabbages, but remember to reduce the time. 1988 D. MacCarthy Prodfact 1988 146 Similar but milder tasting than cabbage, Chinese Leaf can be eaten raw or cooked. 1988 Times 15 Jan. 5/2 Chinese leaves 70p–95p a head and celery 40p–60p a head are the best salad buys.

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   ▸ B. n. colloq. (chiefly Brit.). (a) A meal served at a Chinese restaurant; (also) a Chinese takeaway meal. (b) A restaurant serving Chinese food.

1980 Time Out 22 Feb. 13/2 At weekends the town belongs to young people... Most popular are the pubs, a few pints and a Chinese before home. 1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 Jan. 3 That night, a Friday, we gathered in front of the set..with take-out Chinese. 1990 Christian Woman Apr. 8/2 We found a Chinese in Soho and once we started to chat and eat it was wonderful. 1997 Sunday Post (Glasgow) 4 May 16/4 We sort of exist on takeaways. There's a Chinese and a new Indian just opened down the road.

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   ▸ Chinese meal n.

1874E. D. D. Wentworth in Ladies' Repository Mar. 163/2 It is the Chinese staple—as essential to a *Chinese meal as bread is to ours. 1952 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 58 38/1 We had..American food, though all of us children liked Chinese food better, and only as a concession to our pleading did we have an occasional Chinese meal. 1998 A. Warner Sopranos 164 Do you know, Orla's never been for an Indian or Chinese meal in her life?

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   ▸ A. adj. Chinese burn n. (also chinese burn) Children's slang (chiefly Brit. Canad., and Austral.), a juvenile torment inflicted by grasping a person's wrist or forearm with both hands and twisting the skin sharply in opposite directions, causing a painful burning sensation; occas. in extended use.

1956 G. Willans Whizz for Atomms ii. 32 Come on grab him by the neck scrag him give him a *chinese burn beat him up and let him hav [sic] it. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers ix. 97, I flicked it; slapped it; I garotted it with both hands; a final searing chinese-burn—a last attempt to tempt out a drop of that most dreaded commodity, discharge. 1997 Daily Tel. 23 Apr. 8/7 W suffered a spiral fracture... His assailant had admitted: ‘I went and gave him a Chinese burn and he moved, then I heard it click’.

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   ▸ Chinese muntjac n. (more fully Chinese muntjac deer) a muntjac deer, Muntiacus reevesi, which is native to China and naturalized in England and France; also called Reeves's muntjac.

1852 Catal. Mammalia Brit. Mus. iii. 220 Cervulus Reevesii, the *Chinese Muntjac. 1932 Times 28 Nov. 8/5 An interesting zoological collection made in Upper Burma was received as a gift... A Serow and a Chinese Muntjac are among the ungulates. 1998 Wildlife News (Berks., Bucks. & Oxon Naturalists' Trust) Jan. 5/3 Populations of roe and fallow deer have recently been supplemented with Chinese muntjac deer, introduced to Woburn Park and other woods in Bedfordshire earlier this century.

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   ▸ Chinese parsley n. Cookery the leaf of the coriander plant, esp. as used in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine (cf. cilantro n.).

1895 N.Y. Times 19 May iv. 25/6 The *Chinese parsley is quite different from the ordinary parsley except in looks. If the spray is crushed between the fingers, an odor at once arises, which is nauseating in the extreme. 2001 Fodor's Healthy Escapes (new ed.) 102 Sample Meals: Opakapaka (Hawaiian pink snapper) with shiitake mushrooms, Chinese parsley, ginger, and shoyu (dinner).