| 释义 |
▪ I. steam-roller, n.|ˈstiːmˌrəʊlə(r), formerly ˌstiːmˈrəʊlə(r)|
a. A heavy locomotive engine with wide wheels used for crushing road-metal and levelling roads.
1866Engineering 18 May 318/3 The Ballaison steam roller..may now be seen at all hours of the day crushing smooth the granite of the new boulevards of Paris. 1877Philipson in Q. Rev. CXLIV. 424 There, too, six-horse rollers are found to do the work of setting a roadway far more effectually than our steam-rollers.
b. fig. (colloq.) A crushing power or force. Also attrib.
Russian steam-roller: with reference to Russian military capacity in the war of 1914–18.
1896Lloyd George Let. 6 Aug. (1973) 106 One of them [sc. M.P.s] threatened to pass a steamroller over me yesterday... Killed the Military Lands Bill. Just heard from Balfour. That's their steamroller. 1902Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 489/1 She [Russia] sought to achieve her end by means of the ‘steam roller’ of the concert of Europe. 1902Blackw. Mag. Dec. 731/1 At last Kitchener..set his steam-roller in motion and rolled the enemy flat. 1906Westm. Gaz. 16 June 15/1 In the Caucasus, as in Finland, she [sc. Russia] has adopted the steam⁓roller policy, and by crushing national aspirations has estranged possible loyalists. 1912Chicago Tribune 3 June 2/2 The Roosevelt adherents..expect through publicity to prevent the operation of the steam⁓roller. 1916G. B. Shaw in N.Y. Times 9 Apr. vi. 1/3 A combination of the British fleet, the French Army, and the Russian steam roller. 1934J. Hilton Goodbye, Mr. Chips xiii. 89 The Battle of the Marne, the Russian steam-roller, Kitchener. 1952Sun (Baltimore) 7 July 2/4 Meanwhile Taft's men proceed on the lines slammed down by Elihu Root's steamroller. 1976Listener 5 Feb. 132/3 The Soviet military doctrine of the so-called ‘steamroller approach’—huge numbers of well-disciplined, fit and adequately trained privates, as distinguished from the élitist concept of an all-volunteer army, like Britain's.
Hence steam-roll, (also steamroll, stress variable) v. trans., (a) to crush or level with a steam-roller; (b) fig.; also, to force or drive in a given direction (cf. steam-roller v. 2); ˈsteam-ˌrolling (formerly ˌsteam-ˈrolling) vbl. n.
1879T. Codrington Macadamised Roads 99 The cost of steam rolling, when there is constant work for the machine, is far less than that of horse rolling. 1900Daily News 26 Dec. 6/3 The usual plan..is to finish off the laid road metal with gravel, which is well watered and steam rolled. 1914Times 29 Aug. 6/2 Our task is stonewalling, and that of the Russians is steamrolling. 1915F. M. Hueffer Good Soldier iv. v. 274 So Edward and Nancy found themselves steam-rolled out and Leonora survives. 1955Times 15 Aug. 5/4 The big screen, Vistavision, the Hollywood technique, and all the rest of it will steamroll the lightness and gaiety of the original idea out of all recognition. 1975Times 21 July 1/8 The ruling party..will steamroll the endorsement through. 1976Conservation News Sept./Oct. 22/1 The main TV companies have made some attempt to cover the most excessive speculation and steamrolling of community rights.
▪ II. ˈsteam-roller, v.
Also as one word.
[f. the n.]
1. trans. To crush or level with a steam-roller; to force with a steam-roller.
1913New Statesman 26 July 497/2 To attempt to get through his poems in Classical Prosody is like trying to ride a bicycle over miles of newly-stoned road not yet steam-rollered. 1940V. Brittain Testament of Friendship xix. 361 What had happened..to the mortal remnants of those slaughtered thousands?.. Had they been ploughed, exploded and steam-rollered into the soil?
2. fig.
a. To crush or break down, as with a steam-roller; to ride roughshod over; to overwhelm or squash. Freq. in Pol. contexts.
1912Chicago Daily Tribune 7 June 1/4 They [sc. the Taft men] assent..that they will ‘steam roller’ the Roosevelt contests with a vengeance. 1918G. B. Shaw in Daily Chron. 12 Jan. 5/2 He hammered poor Mr Walsh with trenchant repetitions of his chivalrous Christian phrase, and steamrollered him amid thunderous plaudits. 1921Round Table June 651 His block majority, with which, if necessary, he could steam-roller opposition. 1930G. B. Shaw What I really wrote about War xi. 283 An Ally [sc. Russia] on whom we had depended to steamroller our enemies on their eastern front. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 3 Dec. 4/1 It would be a tragedy if the personal intimate side of British elections was steam-rollered into a flat monotony. 1982N. & Q. Apr. 174/2 The book seems..to be an example of that kind of academic system⁓building where the subtleties of a text are ‘steamrollered’ in the interests of interpretative ‘schemes’.
b. To push (a measure or bill) through (a legislative assembly, committee, etc.) by forcibly overriding opposition.
1947A. W. Grantham in Hong Kong Hansard 31 July 257 It is too readily assumed that because there is a majority of Officials the slightest wish of Government is ‘steam-rollered’ through this Council. 1960Times 1 Mar. 12/3 Certainly, each measure is steam-rollered through. 1964Daily Tel. 27 Feb. 1/1 They accused him..of having ‘steam-rollered the Bill through the Cabinet’.
c. To force (someone) into (a course of action, situation, etc.).
1959Economist 18 Apr. 212/2 If the Government is steamrollered into granting a flat rate increase for all these pensioners right across the board, this will be the third successive general election which has been immediately preceded by such a step. 1959P. Bull I know Face ii. 42 Luckily Robert and I..were not steam⁓rollered into a phoney romance to appease the fans and newshawks.
3. intr. With adv. or prep. To proceed (esp. to continue speaking), regardless of opposition or interruption.
1969D. Francis Enquiry i. iii. 38 Gowery steamrollered on. ‘You found certain objects.’ 1970J. Porter Rather a Common Sort of Crime iii. 31 The Hon. Con steam⁓rollered happily through the interruption. 1977Evening Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 11 Jan. 13/8 Walker steam-rollered in with a 4–3 finish to win 16–15! |