| 释义 |
latch-key|ˈlætʃkiː|
Orig., a key used to draw back the night-latch of a door. Now usu., the key of a spring door-lock. Freq. allusive and attrib., with reference to the use of a latch-key by a younger member of a household (esp. one who comes home from school when his parents are still at work) or a lodger.
1825C. Mathews Memorandum-Bk. (ed. 2) 19 At last he recollected he had a latch key in his pocket. 1836Dickens Pickw. (1837) xx. 199, I couldn't find the place where the latch-key went in. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. xvi, Here, at all hours of the night, may be heard the rattling of latch-keys in their respective keyholes. 1856Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 270 He opened the door with his latch-key. 1950T. S. Eliot Cocktail Party i. iii. 70 Lavinia lets herself in with a latch-key.
attrib.1892Zangwill Bow Mystery 37 The front door..is guarded by the latchkey lock and the big lock. 1902Daily Chron. 22 Aug. 3/6 At the beginning of the latchkey life everything looks delightful. 1905Ibid. 17 Nov. 1/7 The names of 2,596 workmen in Devonport, known as latch-key voters,..were restored to the occupiers' list. 1944in Amer. Speech (1965) XL. 145 Latchkey children. 1945Baker Austral. Lang. 158 The arrival of American servicemen in Australia produced..latch-key kids for children left at home on their own by mothers engaged in war industry. 1946Life 8 Apr. 90/2 His was a latchkey existence. 1960Guardian 23 Nov. 8/5 What happens to the ‘latch-key children’ in Germany? 1974Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 14 June 11/5 One in every four school children was a latch-key child.
Also as v., to open with a latch-key; to let oneself into (a house, etc.) by means of a latch-key.
1939E. S. Gardner Case of Rolling Bones (1940) v. 60 Mason latch-keyed the office door to find Gertrude down on hands and knees scrubbing at the charred carpet. 1961Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom xv. 119 As he latchkeyed himself into Peacehaven..there was a song on his lips. |