Copper-bottomed

Meaning

Genuine; trustworthy.

Origin

If you come across something that is copper-bottomed these days, it is most likely to be a saucepan. In the 18th century, it would have been a ship. It is unusual for an idiomatic phrase to have such a literal derivation as this. 'Copper-bottomed' described ships that were fitted with copper plating on the underside of their hulls. The process was first used on ships of the British Navy in 1761 to defend their wooden planking against attack by Teredo worms a.k.a. Shipworms (actually a type of bivalve clam) and to reduce infestations by barnacles.

The method was successful in protecting ships' timbers and in increasing speed and manoeuvrability and soon became widely used. This piece from The London Magazine, March 1781, records the introduction of its use on all the ships of the Royal Navy:

Admiral Keppel made a remark upon copper bottomed ships. He said they gave additional strength to the navy and he reproached Lord Sandwich with having refused to sheath only a few ships with copper at his request, when he had since ordered the whole navy to be sheathed.

「furnish」的搜尋結果

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The 14 points of this chapter, and removal of the deadly diseases and obstacles explained in the next chapter, furnish a method. Guidance from questions and ...

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... furnish ...

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We now furnish to the customer x- and /^-charts for the chief characteristics of the brake lining that he buys from us, and we have no problems. 1 5. ...

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... that may accrue as a result — an incorrect bill, an incorrect or incomplete registration. 4. Deal with vendors that can furnish statistical evidence of ...

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The problem is to find one vendor that can furnish statistical evidence of quality. We must work with vendors so that we understand the procedures that they ...

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The same data furnish also a basis for negotiation with shippers in respect to rates for shipments of various weights and mileages. For business purposes. ...

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Examination of tracks, roadbed, and grading at points selected by statistical methods would furnish information for repairs needed. ...

Let us begin with that kind of festival which is perhaps the oldest of all--the Mysteries. They resembled in their main features those performed in the rest of Europe. In the public squares, in the churches and in the cloisters, extensive scaffolds were constructed, the upper story of which served as a Paradise to open and shut at will, and the ground-floor often as 8 Hell, while between the two lay the stage properly so called, representing the scene of all the earthly events of the drama In Italy, as elsewhere, the biblical or legendary play often began with an introductory dialogue between Apostles, Prophets, Sibyls, Virtues, and Fathers of the Church, and sometimes ended with a dance.

When we picture to ourselves the theatrical talent and the splendid costumes of the actors, the scenes constructed in the style of the architecture of the period, and hung with garlands and tapestry, and in the background the noble buildings of an Italian piazza, or the slender columns of some great courtyard or cloister, the effect is one of great brilliance.

Definition

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furnish Show phonetics

tr.v., -nished, -nish·ing, -nish·es.

To equip with what is needed, especially to provide furniture for.
To supply; give: “The story of Orpheus has furnished Pope with an illustration” (Thomas Bulfinch).

[Middle English furnisshen, from Old French fournir, fourniss-, of Germanic origin.]

furnisher fur'nish·er n.

SYNONYMS furnish, equip, outfit, appoint, accouter. These verbs mean to provide with what is necessary for an activity or a purpose: furnished the team with new uniforms; equip a car with snow tires; had to outfit the children for summer camp; a library that was appointed in leather; knights who were accoutered for battle.

verb [T]
to provide with furniture; to put furniture in:
They've furnished the room very simply.

furnished Show phonetics
adjective
She's looking for a furnished flat/apartment (= one which already has furniture in it).
Their house is expensively furnished (= the furniture in it is expensive).

furnishings Show phonetics
plural noun
the furniture, curtains and other decorations in a room or building:
Bathroom furnishings are in the basement of the store, Sir.

cloister

(kloi'stər) pronunciation

n. A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle.

Behind the house is a series of tiny "pods" created by the students as an experimental dormitory. The pods - one is made of bales of recycled cardboard; another is sheathed in old license plates - cluster beneath a vast shed roof, creating a kind of folk-art cloister. Students, if they're around, are happy to give tours.

A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
：修院禁地；教會禁地：又稱 close，詳見 clausura。

Life in a monastery or convent.

A secluded, quiet place.

tr.v., -tered, -ter·ing, -ters.

To shut away from the world in or as if in a cloister; seclude.
To furnish (a building) with a cloister.

[Middle English cloistre, from Old French, alteration (influenced by cloison, partition) of clostre, from Latin claustrum, enclosed place, from claudere, to close.]

━━ n. 修道院, 僧院; 静かな離れた場所; （the ～）隠遁(いんとん)生活; 回廊.
━━ vt. （修道院などに）閉じ込める; 回廊を巡らす.