platelayern.
/ˈpleɪtˌleɪə/, U.S. /ˈpleɪtˌleɪər/ A person who lays and maintains the plates of a tramway or railway; (now) spec. one who lays and maintains the rails and permanent way of a railway. Cf. plate n. 20.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway worker > [noun] > track maintenance workers
gangman1830
platelayer1836
wayman1840
surfaceman1845
lineman1858
track-layera1861
track-man1881
linesman1883
track-walker1890
lengthman1902
underman1921
gandy dancer1923
snake1929
fluffer1956
1836 Newcastle Courant 24 Dec. 1/1 (advt.) To Plate-layers and others. The Directors of the Stanhope and Tyne Railroad Company wish to receive Proposals for the Upholding of their Road.
1857 H. Spencer in Westm. Rev. Apr. 482 Sundry new occupations, as those of drivers, stokers, cleaners, plate-layers.
1897 Daily News 15 Nov. 2/5 Two railway servants..were killed, one a goods checker and the other a platelayer.
1935 J. S. Lee Underworld of East viii. 54 A gang of platelayers was working on the line, and my thoughts turned to the tiger.
1951 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 615/2 Why are permanent way men called ‘plate-layers’? There is romance in the word. It carries one back to the very early days of track-laying, when the collieries transported coal to the wharves in horse-wagons. These wagons, at first, ran on logs laid end to end. The wood wore away quickly, so to meet this iron plates were spiked to the logs.
1985 Guardian (Nexis) 31 Aug. We were going to go, dead slow, through a section of line on which platelayers were working.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> as lemmas
plate-layer
a. One who or that which lays (in various senses); one who lays siege, plots, etc. Also with noun in combination, as †besiege-layer, plate-layer, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > attacker > [noun] > besieger or blockader
sieger1533
besiege-layer1538
besieger1574
pursuera1578
assieger1608
beleaguer1611
beleaguerer1628
town-taker1654
blockader1759
investors1870
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > [noun] > one who or that which > one who
layer1538
setter1538
installer1611
mounter1747
the mind > will > intention > planning > [noun] > planner
compassera1513
contrivera1522
deviser1523
muser1556
platformer1572
plotter1589
architect1594
projector1596
machinator1611
designer1653
agitant1665
layer1674
concerter1693
schematist1710
planner1716
schemer1724
schemist1753
strategist1821
strategician1841
strategian1860
programmer1875
programmatist1895
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > better
bettor1584
gripe1591
better1614
staker1648
wagerer1660
sporting man1742
betting-man1819
fielder1844
investor1850
backer1853
punter1860
layer1871
accumulator1889
society > faith > worship > exorcism > [noun] > one who performs
exorcistc1384
exorcizer1502
layer1884
deliverance minister1955
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > familiar or possessing spirit > exorcism of > exorcist
exorcistc1384
exorcizer1502
layer1884
deliverance minister1955
1538 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 156 It selbe lesum to quhatsumeuer nychtbour that reprehendis the layaris of the said fulze in the place forsayd [etc.].
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Besiege laier, obsessor.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 152 Layers of plots and traps.
a1684 R. Leighton Pract. Comm. 1st Epist. Peter (1693) I. 277 The Lord himself is the layer of this corner stone.
1737 Chamberlayne's Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 33) ii. iii. 93 Layers and Takers of Paper on and from the Rolling-Presses.
1871 R. A. Proctor Light Sci. 311 The layer of the odds.
1884 Mrs. Houstoun Caught in Snare II. vi. 71 A layer of the demon of jealousy.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Nov. 6/3 At St. Ouen there was no betting, the layers refusing to do any business.
<
n.1836as lemmas