释义 |
▪ I. ‖ auto, n.1|ˈaʊtəʊ| [Sp. and Pg.:—L. actu-s act.] 1. A play. Cf. act n. 7.
1779H. Swinburne Trav. Spain iii. 9 Autos and mysterios are prohibited on the theatres of Madrid. 1848A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 339 Calderon founded on it one of his finest autos, the ‘Magico Prodigioso.’ 2. for auto-da-fé. Cf. act n. 9.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Act, They usually contrive the Auto to fall on some great festival. 1823Byron Age of Bronze vii, The faith's red ‘auto,’ fed with human fuel. ▪ II. auto, n.2|ˈɔːtəʊ| 1. Colloq. abbrev. of automobile n. after F. auto; also attrib. and Comb.; auto court U.S., a motel. See also auto-2.
1899Boston Herald 9 July 6/3 The accident to Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt's ‘auto’. 1901Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 30 Oct. 6/1 These auto enthusiasts are trying hard. 1902Aeronautical World (U.S.) 1 Oct. 60/1 Cycles, autos and all other contrivances for rapid transit. 1910Daily Chron. 12 Mar. 6/4 The auto-manufacturing business. 1922Hotel World 11 Mar. 6/2 The chamber of commerce of Santa Barbara, Cal., fathers an ‘auto camp’. 1925Beaver Sept. 201/2 All our ‘tourists’ report..the auto camps doing a roaring business. 1927Blackw. Mag. Nov. 646/2 The auto-trip to Ixtlan del Rio. 1928Sunday Express 24 June 8/2, I was raised in Canada sixty odd years ago, when..the country was not safe for slick auto-tourists. 1930R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xix. 274 Sign-boards..telling travellers about hotels and auto-camps. 1934J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice i. 9 A half-dozen shacks that they called an auto court. 1962Economist 20 Oct. 277/2 This demand..has surprised many automen. 2. Abbrev. of autotype 2. rare.
1882Swinburne Lett. (1960) IV. 309 The autos gave great satisfaction. 3. Abbrev. of autobiography. rare.
1940V. Woolf Writer's Diary 6 Jan. (1953) 323, I suppose the origin of many of the new middle aged autos.
▸ auto body n. chiefly N. Amer. the outer covering of a motor vehicle (typically made of metal, fibreglass, or plastic), as distinguished from its chassis; chiefly attrib.
1912Indianapolis (Indiana) Sunday Star 15 Sept. 23/5 We need..*Auto body makers. 1950N. Cassady Let. 20 Nov. (2005) 208 A..chief who'd left the reservation long ago to become a skilled autobody mechanic. 1995Miami (Florida) Herald (Nexis) 30 Apr. 11 g Some auto bodies are fiberglass. 2003Directory Distance Learning Opportunities 23 Basic principles and ‘how-to’ steps for auto body reconstruction and repair.
▸ autocrime n. a crime involving a motor vehicle; (chiefly Brit.) any of various crimes involving theft from or of, or criminal damage to, a motor vehicle; (also) crimes of this type considered collectively.
1904Chicago Daily Tribune 23 Nov. 2/2 (headline) Prisoner picked up in Channahon not clearly linked with ‘*auto’ crime. 1974Times 7 Mar. 4/7 ‘Autocrime’ (stealing cars and from them) increased by 4 per cent. 1992Crime & Justice 16 16 The street immediately outside victims' residences was the most common location for ‘autocrimes’ (thefts of and from vehicles and vandalism). 2002Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 2 Aug. 27 The arrest of offenders responsible for..auto crime.
▸ autojumble n. chiefly Brit. a sale of assorted second-hand motor vehicle parts and accessories, esp. for discontinued or vintage models; cf. jumble n.1 1b.
1967Times 25 Aug. 13/2 *Autojumble '67. An American Style ‘Swap Meet’. Montagu Motor Museum. Beaulieu. 1986Motorcycle Sport Sept. 395/3, I had..a stall at the autojumble. 2000Pract. Classics June 20/4 The brake components, already at autojumble prices, are subject to a further 10% discount.
▸ automania n. orig. and chiefly N. Amer. (excessive) enthusiasm for motor vehicles and motoring.
1903Los Angeles Times 17 May v. 3/4 *Automania. 1904Chicago Daily Tribune 14 Sept. 1/5 Suffers from ‘automania’... She could think of nothing but auto riding. 1995Explicator Winter 125 The automania that came on the prosperity and technological prowess of post-war America.
▸ automaniac n. orig. and chiefly N. Amer. (a) a person who drives recklessly or at excessive speed; (b) an enthusiast for motor vehicles and motoring.
1902Horseless Age 23 July 84/1 There seems to be need of a term to designate those speed crazed paranoiacs who are now doing so much to bring the automobile into disrepute... We suggest the word ‘*automaniac’. 1963N.Y. Times Mag. 29 Sept. 50/1 An automaniac is..one who, clad in the goggles and duster of a bygone age, mounts an antique automobile and goes pop-popping about the landscape. 1988Newsday (Nexis) 21 Jan. 79 A new breed of automaniacs leave little doubt that they would shove you off the road for not moving fast enough. 2003Winnipeg Free Press (Nexis) 12 Apr. 5 (caption) Auto-maniacs gather for the annual auto show.
▸ auto pollution n. pollution caused by motor-vehicle exhaust emissions.
1924N.Y. Times 31 Dec. 12/7 (headline) *Auto pollution of the air. 2003M. Albert Parecon i. iii. 60 Others in society..breathe the auto pollution the car generates.
▸ autotest n. Motor Racing an automobile race; spec. (chiefly Brit.) a slalom contest (cf. slalom n. 4).
1901N.Y. Times 21 Apr. 9/3 Wet weather *auto test... Seldom, if ever, has a road race..been conducted under more disagreeable conditions. 1973Times 13 July (Motor Racing section) p.vii/2 With the reduction in rally events the other branches of the sport have blossomed—sprints, hill-climbs, rallycross, auto-test, autocross and drag racing. 2000Irish Times (Nexis) 27 Oct. (Sports section) 20 Unless [he] can maintain his current meteoric progress around the autotest markers.
▸ auto worker n. N. Amer. a person employed in the motor-vehicle manufacturing industry.
1909Racine (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 23 Aug. The *Auto Workers are to be congratulated upon the arrangements made. 1929R. W. Dunn Labor & Automobiles iv. 59 The steady machinization..left the ‘typical auto worker’ a mere machine operator. 1997Toronto Sun (Nexis) 3 June 1 Auto workers want to get their fair share of the enormous profits the auto makers rake in every year.
▸ auto wrecking n. N. Amer. the action or business of dismantling disused motor vehicles, usually in order to reclaim and resell the parts and scrap; chiefly attrib.
1910Modesto (Calif.) Evening News 13 Mar. 5/1 (advt.) Modesto *Auto Wrecking Company. 1936J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle 42 The great trash piles of auto-wrecking yards. 1996Newsday (Nexis) 10 June ii. b3 [He] was learning the fine art of auto wrecking—by hand... [They] used chisels and hammers to dismantle junked cars. ▪ III. auto, v. U.S.|ˈɔːtəʊ| Shortened form of automobile v. So autoing |ˈɔːtəʊɪŋ|, vbl. n.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., Autoing, the use of automobiles for business or pleasure traveling. 1916Sphere 12 Feb. 180/3, I find the following commentary on new verbs in the New York Outlook: ‘..‘Thursday we autoed to the country club.’’ 1919Mencken Amer. Lang. 110 Auto is almost unknown [in England], and with it the verb to auto. 1940Bryant & Aiken Psychol. of English 84 We plan to auto through the mountains. |