putty: [17] Etymologically, putty is something that comes from a pot. It was borrowed from French potée ‘contents of a pot’, a derivative of pot ‘pot’. By the time English acquired it, it had come to be applied to a powder made from heated tin, used by jewellers for polishing, and for a cement made from lime and water, used as a top coating on plaster – both substances made in pots. The latter led on in English in the 18th century to the now familiar application to the window-pane sealant. => pot
putty (n.)
1630s, "type of plasterer's cement," from French potée "polishing powder" (12c.), originally "pot-full, contents of a pot," from Old French pot "container" (see pot (n.1)). Meaning "soft mixture for sealing window panes" first recorded 1706. Figurative use in reference to one easily influenced is from 1924. Putty knife attested from 1834.
putty (v.)
1734, from putty (n.). Related: Puttied; puttying.
putty 双语例句
1. When the clay feels like putty, it is ready to use.
黏土摸起来像油灰时，就可以用了。
来自柯林斯例句
2. As soon as she starts crying, I'm putty in her hands.