urchin
urchin — 名詞
- urchinsingular
- urchinsplural
1. a young child, often in older stories, who looks poor, dirty, and ready to cause
髒小鬼
髒兮兮、愛惹事的小孩
a young child, often in older stories, who looks poor, dirty, and ready to cause trouble
Yuki handed the hungry urchin a warm bun from the tray.
Yuki 從托盤上拿了一個熱麵包給那個飢餓的髒小鬼。
urchin as a poor street child
A muddy urchin tugged at shoppers' sleeves outside the station bakery.
一個滿身泥巴的髒小鬼在車站麵包店外拉扯路人的袖子。
street-scene use of urchin
The innkeeper chased the laughing urchin away from the apple cart.
旅店老闆把那個笑嘻嘻的髒小鬼從蘋果攤車旁趕走。
In the old novel, an urchin sleeps under a bridge by the river.
在那本老小說裡，一個髒小鬼睡在河邊的橋下。
- street child
neutral phrase that focuses on life on the street
- waif
more literary and stresses weakness or homelessness
- brat
focuses on bad behavior rather than poverty or dirty clothes
文法句型
a little urchin
a street urchin
用法筆記
This sense often appears in older fiction or story-like descriptions, especially for poor children in the street. In neutral modern contexts, speakers more often say child, kid, or street child.
常見錯誤
2. a tiny sea animal whose hard round body is covered in sharp spines
海膽
長滿尖刺的海中小生物
a tiny sea animal whose hard round body is covered in sharp spines
Caio cracked open a sea urchin shell at the harbor stall.
Caio 在港邊攤位上敲開一個海膽的外殼。
sea urchin as food
A purple urchin clung to the rock below the tide pool.
一隻紫色的海膽緊貼在潮池下方的岩石上。
urchin in a tide-pool scene
The diver warned Min not to step on the black urchins.
潛水員警告 Min 不要踩到那些黑色海膽。
Sea otters crack urchins on their chests before eating them.
海獺會把海膽放在胸口敲開再吃掉。
At the aquarium, children watched an urchin move its tiny spines.
在水族館裡，孩子們看著一隻海膽移動牠細小的刺。
- sea urchin
the full everyday form, especially when no sea setting has been mentioned yet
文法句型
a sea urchin
urchins cling to rocks
用法筆記
When the marine setting is not already obvious, people often say sea urchin. The shorter form urchin is common once the sea context is already clear.