light dutyn.1
/ˈlʌɪt ˌdjuːti/, U.S. /ˈlaɪt ˌd(j)udi/ Now historical.
A toll levied on ships for the maintenance of lights in lighthouses and lightships. Cf. light due n. at light n.1 Compounds 3.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > shipping dues > [noun]
lastinglOE
lastage1205
anchorage1405
strandage1419
plankage1424
quayage1440
lowage1457
measurage1460
perch money1466
perching1483
keel-toll?1499
wharf-gelt1505
sand-gelt1527
wharfage1535
soundage1562
towage1562
groundage1567
bankage1587
rowage1589
shore-silver1589
pilotage1591
dayage1592
ballastage1594
rivage1598
pieragec1599
shore-mail1603
lightage1606
shorage1611
port charge1638
light money1663
port due1663
water-bailage1669
mensuragea1676
mooragea1676
keelage1679
shore-due1692
harbour-due1718
lockage1722
magazinage1736
jettage?1737
light duty1752
tide-duty1769
port duty1776
dockage1788
light due1793
canalage1812
posting-dues1838
warpage1863
winch1864
postage1868
flag-dues1892
berthage1893
shore-levy-
1752 T. Daniel Perjury Display'd 34 Whenever it was attempted to evade the duties of the crown, or the light-duties,..he then spoke warmly, and acted vigorously.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §84 The condition of their receiving the light duties was that of maintaining a light.
1876 Jrnl. House of Representatives U.S. (4th Congr., 2nd Sess.) Index 854 Negotiations for the abolition of light-duties in the ports of Great Britain.
1975 Canad. Hist. Sites (Occas. Papers Archaeol. & Hist., Issue 9) 34/1 In that year the light duty for ships plying the high seas was 5 sols per ton, schooners and local coasters 6 livres per annum, and smaller craft 3 livres annually.
2012 Michigan Q. Rev. 51 455 Bringing in £10,510 a year in 1832 for the two widows who owned it, the Smalls charged light duties from any ship that passed within twelve miles of the rock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
light dutyn.2adj.
/ˌlʌɪt ˈdjuːti/, /ˌlʌɪt ˈdʒuːti/, U.S. /ˌlaɪt ˈd(j)udi/ A. n.2
Service in the army, police force, etc., consisting of shorter hours or less demanding activities, usually assigned to an individual following illness or injury. Frequently in (to be) on light duty.
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society > armed hostility > military service > [noun] > military duty > type of duty
guard1596
picket duty1764
fatigue1776
light duty1810
fatigue-work1846
fatigue duty1856
stable1885
skirt duty1922
staff-work1923
1810 Norfolk Chron. 17 Feb. The troops who recover may be fit for home and light duty in a few months.
1897 F. Conover Centennial Portrait & Biogr. Rec. City Dayton 764/2 Maj. Shoemaker was appointed to the police force of Dayton, on which he has since filled every position, but for several years has been on light duty.
1953 A. Baron Human Kind xiii. 100 I shouldn't be here by rights. I'm a light-duty man.
2010 Seguin (Texas) Gaz. Enterprise 11 Nov. 12/3 If you weren't bleeding when you went to the medic, they'd say, ‘You've got broken ribs. Go back to your unit on light duty’.
B. adj. Chiefly in form light-duty.
1. Chiefly U.S. Designating a truck, pickup, van, etc., designed to carry relatively light loads or transport a relatively small number of people.In the United States, light-duty truck (or light truck) is a classification term for any of various motor vehicles somewhat larger than a passenger car and designed to transport property or people, or with off-road capabilities.
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1915 Automobile 14 Jan. 94/2 The Packard Motor Car Co. has a new line of motor trucks which range in capacities from 1 to 6 tons... The 1-ton model marks the entrance of the big company into the field of light duty vehicles.
1917 Evening Rev. (E. Liverpool, Ohio) 3 Nov. 10/5 (advt.) The Nash One Ton Truck... The finest light duty truck on the market.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 6 Nov. c1/5 Ford..will put a light-duty, Prius-style hybrid on the road about three years before its American rival.
2013 M. S. Hamilton Energy Policy Anal. (2015) 209 Seventy-one percent of the petroleum consumed in the United States in 2010 was used in transportation by automobiles and motorcycles, light-duty trucks (minivans, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles), heavy-duty trucks, and buses.
2. Built only for moderate or temporary use; not designed to withstand hard wear or great strain.
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1917 Sci. Amer. 10 Dec. 1/2 (caption) Light-duty pontoon bridge in place over one of the many waterways which cut up the Flanders theater of war.
1991 Fly Rod & Reel July 50/4 The drag pawls, spring pins and drag-wheel mechanism are a plastic material., but if confined to its purpose as a light-duty trout reel, it should function reasonably well.
2018 Charleston Gaz.-Mail (Nexis) 17 Jan. Never plug your space heater into a light-duty extension cord or multi-outlet surge protector; both are too weak to handle a high-wattage appliance and can cause a fire.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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n.11752n.2adj.1810