hour-glass

n. ancient glass instrument measuring anhour by the time taken by a quantity of sand to run from an upper to a lower bulb （古时用以计时的）玻璃沙漏。
△H.V.1.Prol. 30: “Turning the accomplishmentof many years / Into an hour-glass；” i.e. into thespace of an hour. (An Elizabethan play usually tooktwo or three hours to act.)把许多年才能办完的事情都塞进一个小时之内演完。
△Mer.1.1.25:“I should not see thesandy hour-glass run / But I should think of shallowsand of flats.”我只要一看计时的玻璃沙漏，就不免要想到浅滩和海底。