| 单词 | on the rails |
| 释义 | > as lemmason the rails Phrases P1. by rail: by means of a railway line or system; (now esp.) by train. ΚΠ 1610 R. Fosbrooke Let. 1 May in W. H. Stevenson Rep. MSS Ld. Middleton (1911) 177 We will bring them downe by raile ourselves, for Strelley cartway is so fowle as few cariadges can passe. 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. xvii. 305 Several waggons..which went to London and back in a fortnight,..which [exploit] is now performed in two hours by rail. 1858 Queen Victoria Let. 8 May in Dearest Child (1964) 103 We went by rail, nice, quick! 1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xi. 149 He had come on by rail to pay us a visit. 1919 A. Ransome Russia in 1919 2 We crossed by boat to Abo..and then travelled by rail to the Russian frontier. 1976 Illustr. London News Nov. 52/4 Fruit and vegetables now tend to go increasingly by road..where a few years ago they travelled by rail. 2007 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 9 Feb. c1 It'll have to be moved by rail and tankers, increasing the cost. P2. rails of the head n. Nautical (now historical) the timbers extending each side aft from the head of a ship. ΚΠ 1674 J. Janeway Legacy to Friends 41 The Captain catcht hold on the Railes of the Head. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor 136 Slip Ropes for triseing up the Bites of the Cable to the Rails of the Head. 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Rails of the head, certain curved pieces of timber, extending from the bows on each side to the continuation of the ship's stem. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 375 The short rails of the head, extending from the back of the figure to the cat-head. 1926 C. G. Davis Ship Model Builder's Assistant (1988) ii. 39 The rails of the head should all radiate from the scroll at the top of the figure-head, widening out as they go aft. 1988 B. Lavery Colonial Merchantman Susan Constant 1605 18/2 In the plan view, the rails of the head have to run backwards from the figurehead. P3. North American. to split rails (also to split a rail): to split timber for rails, esp. for fencing; cf. rail-splitter n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > work with wood [verb (intransitive)] > split timber for rails to split a rail1710 1710 T. Nairn Let. S. Carolina 50 The Time..is spent in..splitting Rails, and making Fences round the Corn Ground and Pasture. 1714 J. Hempstead Diary 21 Aug. (1998) 37 I was at home al day spliting Railes & holing Posts. 1791 View N. Amer. iv. 90 A good workman can cut down, log off, and split 200 rails a day. 1820 Niles' Reg. 3 June 256/1 At 97 he went into the woods and split 100 chesnut rails in less than a day. 1864 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 15 Jan. He can cut a tree or split a rail as well as Abraham Lincoln. 1907 St. Nicholas Oct. 1078/1 You never split a rail in your life. 1961 D. C. Mearns Largely Lincoln 39 He never learned to spell and in his private correspondence he could split an infinitive as thoroughly as he could split a rail. 2003 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel (Nexis) 10 Aug. ac2 The cousins offer to give their visitor a demonstration of how to split a rail. P4. as thin (also lean) as a rail: (of a person) as thin as a piece of railing, very thin. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] > thin leanc1000 thinc1000 swonga1300 meagrea1398 empty?c1400 (as) thin (also lean, rank) as a rakec1405 macilent?a1425 rawc1425 gauntc1440 to be skin and bone (also bones)c1450 leany?a1475 swampc1480 scarrya1500 pinched1514 extenuate1528 lean-fleshed1535 carrion-lean1542 spare1548 lank1553 carrion1565 brawn-fallen1578 raw-bone1590 scraggeda1591 thin-bellied1591 rake-lean1593 bare-boned1594 forlorn1594 Lented1594 lean-looked1597 shotten herring1598 spiny1598 starved1598 thin-belly1598 raw-boned1600 larbar1603 meagry?1603 fleshless1605 scraggy1611 ballow1612 lank-leana1616 skinnya1616 hagged1616 scraggling1616 carrion-like1620 extenuated1620 thin-gutted1620 haggard1630 scrannel1638 leanisha1645 skeletontal1651 overlean1657 emaciated1665 slank1668 lathy1672 emaciate1676 nithered1691 emacerated1704 lean-looking1713 scranky1735 squinny-gut(s)1742 mauger1756 squinny1784 angular1789 etiolated1791 as thin (also lean) as a rail1795 wiry1808 slink1817 scranny1820 famine-hollowed1822 sharp featured1824 reedy1830 scrawny1833 stringy1833 lean-ribbeda1845 skeletony1852 famine-pinched1856 shelly1866 flesh-fallen1876 thinnish1884 all horn and hide1890 unfurnished1893 bone-thin1899 underweight1899 asthenic1925 skin-and-bony1935 skinny-malinky1940 skeletal1952 pencil-neck1960 1795 P. M. Freneau Poems (new ed.) 415 As dull as a cat and as lean as a rail! 1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. i. 8 She was as thin as a rail, and carried her head below the level of her shoulders. 1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xv. 125 You'll marry a combination of calico and consumption that's as thin as a rail. 1934 ‘J. S. Strange’ For Hangman xvi. 183 He was a bright looking boy of about sixteen..and thin as a rail. 1946 W. S. Maugham Then & Now viii. 39 Machiavelli, himself as lean as a rail, did not like fat men. 1967 G. Jackson Let. 30 Sept. in Soledad Brother (1971) 131 I am getting thin as a rail, feel all right, however. 2006 Washington Times (Nexis) 19 Sept. c7 He's close to 200 pounds and lean as a rail. P5. Originally U.S. to ride (also run) a person (out) on a rail: to carry or parade a person astride a rail as a punishment (now historical); (figurative) to punish or drive away with ridicule. ΚΠ 1818 Niles' Reg. 15 126/1 She was way-laid in the evening by the ruffians, placed upon a rail, and rode in that manner quite a mile and a half.] 1834 New Eng. Mag. 7 455 The mill-men resolved to bestow public honors on Dominicus Pike, only hesitating whether to tar and feather him, ride him on a rail, or refresh him with an ablution at the town-pump. 1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxi. 267 ‘If I can realise your meaning, ride me on a rail!’ returned the General. 1900 Congress. Rec. 5 Feb. 1521/2 Up in Maine..they mobbed two preachers, tarred and feathered them, and rode them on a rail because they preached the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day xviii. 437 They ought to be jailed, run out of town on a rail, tarred and feathered. 1975 J. Gores Hammett (1976) i. 17 They just about ran him out of St. Mary's County, Maryland, on a rail. 1991 Outrage Feb. 40/1 They're probably not fresh faces at all—perhaps they've just been ridden out of Adelaide on a rail. P6. U.S. to ride a rail: to travel in a coach in which a broken spring has been replaced by a rail. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1836 T. Power Impressions of Amer. I. 180 Here I enjoyed my first lesson in..riding a rail;..The term is derived from a fence-rail being occasionally used to supply the place of a broken thoroughbrace, by which all these stages are hung. P7. off the rails: out of the proper or normal condition, off the usual or expected course. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > disorder > in disorder [phrase] at or on six and sevenOE out of kinda1375 out of rulea1387 out of tonea1400 out of joint1415 out of nockc1520 out of tracea1529 out of order1530 out of tune1535 out of square1555 out of kilter1582 off the hinges?1608 out of (the) hinges?1608 in, out of gear1814 out of gearing1833 off the rails1848 on the bumc1870 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adjective] > amiss, out of order amissc1325 out of harrea1327 wronga1425 wide1545 misplaced1563 awrya1586 ajar1807 off the rails1848 agley1882 blooey1920 off-centre1930 off base1940 snafued1944 off target1954 off beam1958 1828 W. Scott Let. 2 Aug. in W. Partington Sir Walter's Post-bag (1932) 254 The Duke of C[larence] has gone off at the rail completely; the duties of Lord High Admiral have upset him.] 1848 G. E. Jewsbury Let. Mar. (1892) 242 I was very worried, and I felt as if the least thing would throw me off the rails. 1886 E. Gurney et al. Phantasms of Living I. 499 A sane, healthy, waking mind can really get momentarily off the rails. 1938 E. M. Forster in Nation 16 July 68/1 They [sc. citizens] are obliged to be born separately and to die separately and, owing to these unavoidable termini, will always be running off the totalitarian rails. 1953 K. Amis Lucky Jim xxii. 228 He resolved not to run off the rails again. He cleared his throat, found his place, and went on in a clipped tone. 1975 M. Babson There must be Some Mistake xvi. 128 Would John have gone off the rails like this if she had been paying enough attention? 2007 Guardian (Nexis) 7 May (Sport section) 12 There we were bound for glory and suddenly it all went off the rails. P8. on the rails. a. In the proper or normal condition, on the usual or expected course. ΚΠ 1883 E. W. Hamilton Diary 1 Aug. (1972) II. 467 ‘To be on the rails’, as Mr. G. said this morning, ‘and to be off the rails are two different things’. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk ii. 63 I make decisions on the spur of the moment, But you'd never take a leap in the dark; You'd keep me on the rails. 1997 Mail on Sunday 10 Aug. (Programme section) 11/2 It seems just like old times for Kevin and Sally—is their marriage finally back on the rails? 2007 Daily Mail (Nexis) 26 Apr. 81 His desire to create the right environment for England players to get back on the rails. b. Horse Racing, etc. (a) (Of a horse or greyhound) beside the rails, on the track nearest the rails (also figurative); (b) (of a bookmaker, odds, or a bet) located, offered, or laid by the railing of the members' enclosure (cf. Compounds 1c). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [adverb] > position on course in a ruck1832 on the rails1886 1886 A. B. Paterson in Bulletin (Sydney) 30 Oct. 9/4 But one draws out from the beaten tuck And up on the rails by a piece of luck He comes in a style that's clever. 1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. iii. 122 On the rails they were almost opposite the winning post. 1929 Daily Express 7 Nov. 18/5 This sporting bookmaker was betting on the rails. 1930 Times 24 Mar. 4/2 Rubicon II and War Mist were running side by side with Porthaon, the last-named being on the rails. 1962 D. Francis Dead Cert xiii. 144 The bookmakers on the rails—those..who stand along the railing between Tattersall's and the Club enclosures,..send out weekly accounts. 1966 Times 17 June 16/4 A favourite or near-favourite was being quoted at two-to-one as its price in the ring and on the rails. 1977 Irish Press 29 Sept. 13/4 She is drawn on the rails, and on her immediate right is Sprightly Peg. 1997 Times 5 Mar. 45/5 They seem sure to stick at the top, but Palace are clearly coming up on the rails. < as lemmas |
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