英和和英

語源

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

名詞

Roman candle (plural Roman candles)

1. (pyrotechnics) A traditional type of firework that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.
   • 2025 September 9, David Smith, “The president doth protest too much: Trump’s denial on Epstein is backfiring”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     [Karoline] Leavitt threw Roman candles, Catherine wheels and smoke bombs in the air in the hope of distracting reporters. But she was unable to quash the nagging suspicion that Donald Trump has something to hide.

2. (aviation) A parachute deployment failure in which the parachutist whirls downward at high speed.

派生語

動詞

Roman candle (third-person singular simple present Roman candles, present participle Roman candling, simple past and past participle Roman candled)

1. Alternative form of Roman-candle.
   • 2007, J. Joseph Higgins, The Splat Conspiracy: America in Peril, page 145:

     At first, Cyclops's chute began to Roman candle, but in another moment, it popped.

   • 2012, Nigel Cawthorne, The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces:

     Canopies used to be made of silk and when they got wet they would not open, leaving the parachutist to “Roman candle” to a certain death.

   • 2018, Mark Seaman, Undercover Agent:

     That was the theory, but as Corby continued, 'Unfortunately, in operation, this type of parachute tended to "Roman Candle" twist round and round, so that ultimately caused the parachute to collapse and allow the man to fall to the ground unsupported.'

別の表記

• Roman candle, roman-candle, roman candle, Roman Candle

動詞

Roman-candle (third-person singular simple present Roman-candles, present participle Roman-candling, simple past and past participle Roman-candled)

1. (figuratively, intransitive) To move from or spin away in the manner of a Roman candle.
   • 1990, Michael Asher, Shoot to Kill: A Soldier's Journey Through Violence, page 189:

     His canopy had snagged on the tailplane of the aircraft, causing him to Roman-candle into the rocky desert ground.

   • 2005, Alec Brew, Aircraft Down: Forced Landings, Crash Landings and Rescues:

     Luckily, the seat parted company enough for his parachute to Roman-candle, and almost immediately he crashed through a tree.

   • 2014, Christopher Buckley, But Enough About You: Essays, page 428:

     Ronald Reagan went on TV hours after the space shuttle Challenger tragically Roman-candled over Florida and said, "The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave."

2. (figuratively, intransitive) To achieve or attain fame or success quickly and rapidly.
   • 1956, Variety, volume 201, number 5, page 100:

     […] Roman candled to fame in Gertrude Lawrence's legit musical, "Lady In The Dark," which put Freud in grease-paint.

   • 1965 March 6, “WPIX Show Will Host Coast Artists”, in Billboard, volume 77, number 10, page 48:

     Murry (the K) Kaufman, whose seven-year "Swingin' Soiree" Roman-candled Saturday (27), has taped a pilot for the station.

3. (figuratively, transitive) To light up with excitement that lacks of focus or direction.
   • 1974, Holiday, page 30:

     Despite the severe shortage of goose-bump manufacturers of late in our jaded, weary world, music never fails to roman-candle the spine.

   • 1983, Tony Kornheiser, The Baby Chase, page 124:

     I was Roman candling with less frequency; the more accustomed to the chase I became, the less manic I acted.

   • 2009, Julie Anne Long, Like No Other Lover:, page 6:

     And then absurd notions roman-candled in his mind.