| 释义 |
prime-time
[f. prime a. + time, in senses 1, 2 prob. after F. printemps: cf. prec.]
†1. Springtime, spring. Obs.
1503Kalender of Sheph. a iij, iiii. sayssons the qwych ar:..Prymtym, sommer, autom, & wynter. Ibid. a iij b, The saysons..of the qwych ewyrych oon has iii. moneth. Prymtym as fewryer, mars, awryl. c1516[see primerole]. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. xiv. (1534) G vij b, If a tree beareth not in Primetime his flowers, we hope not to haue the fruite in haruest ripe. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 4 b, In y⊇ pryme tyme of the yere he toke his iorney towardes Yorke. 1609Bible (Douay) Jer. xxiv. 2 Good figges: as the figges of the prime time are wont to be.
†2. The early age (of the world, etc.). Obs.
1587Golding De Mornay xxvi. (1592) 402 It befel in the primetime of the worlde.
3. Broadcasting. (Except in attrib. use usu. as prime time.) The time of day when an audience is expected to be at its largest; a peak listening- or viewing-period. Also attrib. and absol., prime-time television. Also transf.
1964Variety 2 Dec. 31/3 For the first time in years, WNBC-TV has copped the number one rating position in prime time, in the highly competitive N.Y. market. 1966[see E.S.T. s.v. E. III]. 1971Daily Tel. 13 Feb. 15/7 A 2p coin will buy three minutes time for local calls in prime time and six minutes at night and weekends. Ibid. 17 Apr. 19/3 The average [commercial local radio] station should aim to sell some 17,500 minutes of prime time in an average year at an average rate of {pstlg}10 per minute. 1973R. Stout Please pass Guilt (1974) xiv. 143 That ad would have made a wonderful five-minute spot... She would have been glad to pay for prime time—say ten o'clock. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 18 June 12-d Jaclyn Smith is one of the gals who's huckstered in TV commercials a committee studied along with prime⁓time programs to determine the image given women on the small screen. 1977New Yorker 10 Oct. 124/2 The Grand Central Racquet Club..charges the highest fee I know of for renting either of its two courts—forty-five dollars an hour in prime time. 1978G. Vidal Kalki vii. 179 Wasn't Kalki blown to bits before our very eyes on prime-time? |