More picturesque32, perhaps, than the every-day sacrifice of a life to an appetite is the animal duel33 to the death; and particularly when both parties fall. Feral combats—mostly deriving34 from sexual jealousy35, for it is comparatively rare that predatory beasts shall fight outside their kind—are innumerable, though in a small minority of cases fatal to either combatant; perhaps fifty times as rarely to both. Even in the extreme event, there is generally little visible record left, and that of a sort that shamefully36 few of our hunters can identify.[279] The best known—because the most unmistakable—is the entanglement37 of buck38 deer by their horns in such inextricable fashion that the duellists starve to death. This is not so extremely rare. I have found such grappled skulls39 thrice—in Maine, in the Sierra Madre of Mexico, and in Colorado so noble a duo of elk40 heads locked in this Chinese puzzle of death that the inaccessibility41 of the range and the impossibility of bringing out these ponderous42 relics44 have given me a standing45 grievance46 these seventeen years. The swordfish pinned by his beak47 to starve beside the pierced hull48; the rat in the fatal nip of a big clam49; the buffalo50 and the cinnamon bear fallen together dead—all these I believe to be authentic51; and of the mutual52 Pyrrhic victory of two rattlesnakes I have seen the proof.
But beyond reasonable comparison, the most extraordinary “document” I have ever seen or heard of in this sort is the absolutely unique relic43 found in 1900 by Edwin R. Graham in the desert county of Inyo, Cal., near Coalingo, and now in the museum of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. There is no possible question of its authenticity53. All the ingenuity54 of man could not make a tolerable counterfeit55 of it. Nor do I believe there is any reasonable doubt that[280] it is the most remarkable56 record ever found of a fight to the death.
It is unflattering but typical of our civilized observation that thousands of people—including a great many “hunters”—identified these mummied protagonists57 as “a coyote and an eagle.” Even the photograph shows what they are, as well as the vindictiveness58 of their death-struggle.
A prowling wildcat (evidently too hungry to be fanciful) finds a great horned owl59 blinking upon the brink60 of a cliff, and pounces61 upon it, catching62 a wing hold. The owl, somewhat armored, even against those terrible teeth and claws, by its quilting of feathers, flings itself upon its back; pounding fiercely with its free wing, tearing with its hooked beak, and clenching63 its talons64 into the flesh with that peculiar66 mechanical lock-grip of its kind—a grip which death does not loosen, as more than one hunter who picked an owl up unripe67 has learned to his sorrow. That even this large owl could not kill a full-grown wildcat in any ordinary combat, probably every hunter knows. But this owl chanced to get a clutch on the wildcat’s open fore6 paw, one of his claws clinched69 behind a tendon—and there it still is, traceable even in the photograph. Perhaps he could not have withdrawn70 it himself,[281] had he been the survivor71 of the struggle. The cat’s jaws72 are still locked upon the broken bone of the owl’s left wing. Neither is otherwise very badly mangled73; and doubtless the cat would have torn to shreds74 “the body of this death” and gone about his business with no more handicap than that ineradicable talon65 in his paw.
WILDCAT AND OWL IN DEATH-STRUGGLE
But in their wild and blind mêlée they overstepped the verge75 of the cliff, and down they went together. The 40-foot fall does not seem to have broken their clinch68 at all. If it did, they renewed it. But, though no fractures were sustained, the stumble doubtless stunned76 the cat; and there, irretrievably grappled in immortal77 hate, they died together of thirst and loss of blood. There at the foot of the cliff they were found; desiccated by the furnace airs of the desert, light as mummies, but unbroken; their very eyeballs dried in their sockets78; the plumage of the owl practically complete, and enough fur of the wildcat’s muzzle79 and paws left by the moths80 to identify it even to those who could not recognize its unequivocal anatomy81.
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1
wilderness
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n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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2
irreconcilable
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adj.(指人)难和解的,势不两立的 | |
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eloquent
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adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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4
sensational
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adj.使人感动的,非常好的,轰动的,耸人听闻的 | |
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5
teeming
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adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 );到处都是;(指水、雨等)暴降;倾注 | |
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fore
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adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
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denizens
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n.居民,住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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prey
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n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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foes
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敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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10
unnatural
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adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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11
killer
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n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者 | |
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myriad
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adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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13
humble
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adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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14
bleaching
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漂白法,漂白 | |
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15
scurry
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vi.急匆匆地走;使急赶;催促;n.快步急跑,疾走;仓皇奔跑声;骤雨,骤雪;短距离赛马 | |
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16
dissection
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n.分析;解剖 | |
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civilized
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a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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18
penetration
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n.穿透,穿人,渗透 | |
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19
brass
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n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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20
cylinders
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n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 );圆柱;汽缸;(尤指用作容器的)圆筒状物 | |
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21
astounding
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adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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22
killing
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n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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23
trumps
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abbr.trumpets 喇叭;小号;喇叭形状的东西;喇叭筒v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去式 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造 | |
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sentimental
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adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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beaver
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n.海狸,河狸 | |
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herding
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中畜群 | |
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flirtatious
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adj.爱调情的,调情的,卖俏的 | |
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refinement
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n.文雅;高尚;精美;精制;精炼 | |
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infinitely
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adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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allied
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adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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quail
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n.鹌鹑;vi.畏惧,颤抖 | |
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picturesque
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adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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duel
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n./v.决斗;(双方的)斗争 | |
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deriving
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v.得到( derive的现在分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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jealousy
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n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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shamefully
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可耻地; 丢脸地; 不体面地; 羞耻地 | |
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entanglement
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n.纠缠,牵累 | |
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buck
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n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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skulls
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颅骨( skull的名词复数 ); 脑袋; 脑子; 脑瓜 | |
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elk
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n.麋鹿 | |
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inaccessibility
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n. 难接近, 难达到, 难达成 | |
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ponderous
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adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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relic
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n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物 | |
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relics
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[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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grievance
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n.怨愤,气恼,委屈 | |
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47
beak
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n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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48
hull
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n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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49
clam
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n.蛤,蛤肉 | |
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50
buffalo
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n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛 | |
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51
authentic
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a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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52
mutual
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adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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53
authenticity
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n.真实性 | |
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54
ingenuity
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n.别出心裁;善于发明创造 | |
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55
counterfeit
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vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的 | |
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56
remarkable
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adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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57
protagonists
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n.(戏剧的)主角( protagonist的名词复数 );(故事的)主人公;现实事件(尤指冲突和争端的)主要参与者;领导者 | |
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58
vindictiveness
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恶毒;怀恨在心 | |
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59
owl
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n.猫头鹰,枭 | |
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60
brink
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n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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61
pounces
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v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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62
catching
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adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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63
clenching
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v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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64
talons
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n.(尤指猛禽的)爪( talon的名词复数 );(如爪般的)手指;爪状物;锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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65
talon
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n.爪;(如爪般的)手指;爪状物 | |
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peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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67
unripe
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adj.未成熟的;n.未成熟 | |
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68
clinch
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v.敲弯,钉牢;确定;扭住对方 [参]clench | |
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69
clinched
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v.(尤指两人)互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 );解决(争端、交易),达成(协议) | |
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70
withdrawn
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vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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71
survivor
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n.生存者,残存者,幸存者 | |
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72
jaws
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n.口部;嘴 | |
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73
mangled
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vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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shreds
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v.撕碎,切碎( shred的第三人称单数 );用撕毁机撕毁(文件) | |
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verge
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n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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76
stunned
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adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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immortal
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adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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sockets
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n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴 | |
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muzzle
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n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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moths
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n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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anatomy
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n.解剖学,解剖;功能,结构,组织 | |
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