释义 |
ˈsubway, n. [sub- 3.] 1. a. An underground passage for conveying water-pipes, gas-pipes, telegraph wires, etc.; an underground tunnel by which pedestrians or vehicles may pass from one point to another below a road or roads, or a river, railway, etc.
1825Hood & Reynolds Odes & Addresses 7 Speak up—or hath he hid his name To crawl thro' ‘subways’ unto fame Like Williams of Cornhill? 1828J. Williams (title) An historical account of subways in the British Metropolis, for the flow of pure Water and Gas into the houses of the Inhabitants, without disturbing the pavements. 1834Penny Cycl. II. 263/1 By means of it [sc. an arched structure]..subways, or sewers, are made to pass under heavy structures and along streets, with..safety. 1869Bradshaw's Railway Man. XXI. 454 Thames Subway. Incorporated..for making and maintaining a subway, under the river Thames, from Deptford to the Isle of Dogs. Length, 582 yards, with various roads and approaches. 1884Law Times Rep. N.S. LI. 540/1 There was no bridge or subway for passengers to cross the line by. 1954Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I) 25 Subway, an underground passageway or tunnel to permit traffic movement or to accommodate pipes and cables underneath a structure, road or railway. attrib.1887Dict. Archit. s.v., The city of London and Southwark subway company. 1888Advance (Chicago) 26 Apr. 260 A subway commission that for two years have drawn good salaries for not putting their wires under ground. b. chiefly N. Amer. (orig. U.S.). An underground railway. Freq. attrib.
1893Massachusetts Acts & Resolves 1420 The mayor of the city of Boston shall appoint..three commissioners..to be known as the board of subway commissioners. 1904Daily Chron. 29 Oct. 3/7 The subway is being extended to Brooklyn by tunnel under the East River. 1905Ibid. 8 Mar. 5/4 The collision on the subway line occurred on the north-bound track at Twenty-third Street. 1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Jan. 2/5 An aged woman was killed by a subway train today while trying to go into a car in which the door had been closed. 1911N. & Q. 2nd Ser. IV. 487/1 The New York Subway, with an extent of some 25 miles, including the tracks for local and express trains, has been so designated since it was opened in 1905. 1919, etc. [see metro2]. 1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 22 They were walking down the steps to the subway arm in arm. 1951E. Paul Springtime in Paris v. 106 They stood there staring at the subway map. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 48/3 (Advt.), An apartment..minutes from the Davisville subway station. 1971New Society 18 Aug. 322/2 The [Glasgow] underground (never called the tube)... Glaswegians persist in calling it the subway. 1979R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. viii. 117 The subway kiosk in Harvard Square. 2. Special Comb.: subway alumni n. pl. (U.S. slang), city-dwelling supporters of a college football team who, though not graduates of the college, attend games or follow the results through the news media (also transf.).
1947Sun (Baltimore) 3 Nov. 15/8 Many letters have come in attacking Army for dropping Notre Dame... These letters came from Notre Dame's subway alumni, not from Notre Dame. 1960Washington Post 7 Apr. d7 Silky Sullivan, the hero of the ‘subway alumni’, went into the 1958 Derby as the sentimental favorite. 1982Chicago Sun-Times 26 Oct. 91 Faust wold be having a devil of a time staying in the good graces of Notre Dame alumni (real and subway). Hence as v. intr. (N. Amer. colloq.), to travel by subway or underground railway.
1929M. Lief Hangover 307 He subwayed up to Times Square. 1945PM (N.Y.) 15 Apr. m4/2 We subwayed to Brooklyn. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 46 (Advt.), You drive a Mercedes, but want to subway to the office. |