shark

• n. 鲨鱼；骗子
• vi. 诈骗
• vt. 敲诈

词源不详，可能来自加勒比某土著语言 xok,由 16 世纪英国海军将军 Sir John Hawkins 引入 英语，并引申比喻义诈骗者，骗子。也有观点认为该词本来词义就是诈骗者，骗子，后用于 指这种凶猛的鱼。

在16世纪之前，英国水手们将鲨鱼称为“sea dog”，因为它们会像狗一样咬人。直到现在，英语中依然使用dogfish来称呼很多种小型鲨鱼。16世纪50年代，英国著名的航海探险家、商人及海盗约翰•霍金斯（John Hawkins）在一次前往新大陆的远航中，在加勒比海域捕获了一条巨大的鲨鱼，将其制成标本带回了英国伦敦并展出。在对外介绍这条鲨鱼时，霍金斯的水手们将其称为sharke，该词很有可能来自美洲土著人对鲨鱼的称呼。现代英语单词shark就来源于此。

shark：[ʃɑːk] n.鲨鱼，骗子v.敲诈，诈骗

shark

shark: [16] The origins of the word shark are obscure. It appears to have been introduced to English in the late 1560s by members of Sir John Hawkins’ expedition (a ballad of 1569 recorded ‘There is no proper name for [the fish] that I know, but that certain men of Captain Hawkins’s doth call it a shark’), but it is not known where they got it from. A resemblance to Austrian dialect schirk ‘sturgeon’ has been noted. Also not clear is whether shark ‘swindler’ (first recorded in the 18th century) is the same word; an alternative possibility is that it came from German schurke ‘scoundrel’.

shark (n.)

1560s, of uncertain origin; apparently the word and the first specimen were brought to London by Capt. John Hawkins's second expedition (landed 1565; see Hakluyt).

There is no proper name for it that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a 'sharke' [handbill advertising an exhibition of the specimen, 1569]

The meaning "dishonest person who preys on others," though attested only from 1599 (sharker "artful swindler" in this sense is from 1594), may be the original sense, later transferred to the large, voracious marine fish. If so, it is possibly from German Schorck, a variant of Schurke "scoundrel, villain," agent noun of Middle High German schürgen (German schüren) "to poke, stir."

But on another theory, the English word is from a Mayan word, xoc, which might have meant "shark." Northern Europeans seem not to have been familiar with sharks before voyages to the tropics began. A slightly earlier name for it in English was tiburon, via Spanish (where it is attested by 1520s), from the Carib name for the fish.

The English word was applied (or re-applied) to voracious or predatory persons, on the image of the fish, from 1707 (originally of pick-pockets); loan shark is attested from 1905. Sharkskin (1851) was used for binding books, etc. As the name of a type of fabric held to resemble it, it is recorded from 1932.

There is the ordinary Brown Shark, or sea attorney, so called by sailors; a grasping, rapacious varlet, that in spite of the hard knocks received from it, often snapped viciously at our steering oar. [Herman Melville, "Mardi"]

shark (v.)

c. 1600, "to live by one's wits," of uncertain origin (see shark (n.)); according to OED, at least partly a variant of shirk. Meaning "obtain by sharking" is from 1610s. Related: Sharked; sharking.

1. The shark was writhing around wildly, trying to get free.

鲨鱼拼命挣扎，试图逃脱。

来自柯林斯例句

2. The shark dived down and swam under the boat.

鲨鱼急速潜入水中，在船下游动。

来自柯林斯例句

3. a shark's dorsal fin

鲨鱼的背鳍

来自《权威词典》

4. Panic swept through the swimmers as they saw the shark approaching.

游泳的人看见鲨鱼靠近时一片惊慌.

来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5. They were killed by a man - eating shark.

他们被一条吃人的鲨鱼所害.

来自《简明英汉词典》