| 释义 |
down town, down-town, adv., a., and n. orig. U.S. and chiefly N. Amer.
Also downtown.
[See down prep. 2 b, 3.]
A. adv. Into the town (from a more elevated suburb); down in the town. Cf. up-town adv.
1835Gray Lett. (1893) 55 To-day when I go down town I shall subscribe for the ‘New York Observer’ for you. 1883Century Mag. XXVI. 917/1 She was down-town alone. c1909D. H. Lawrence Collier's Friday Night (1934) iii. 60 Well, my duck, I looked for you downtown. 1952S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1957) vi. 91 The man who had seemed a dignified young wonder on 135th Street..looked like a pompous and overweening young ass downtown. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 24 (Advt.), Tickets available downtown at box office prices exclusively at Moody's in the Colonnade.
B. adj. Of, pertaining to, or situated in the lower, or more central, part of a town or city. Cf. up-town a.
1836P. Hone Diary (1889) I. 200 The value of down-town property. 1852Harper's Mag. V. 413/2 The down-town men..slip uneasily through the brick and mortar labyrinths of Maiden-lane. 1870J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall Street 67 On these securities therefore the down-town banks make call loans. 1883H. H. Kane in Harper's Mag. Nov. 944/2 In the lobby of a down-town hotel. 1891Congress. Rec. 28 Jan. 1906/1 The second ward of the city of New York..is what is called a down-town ward, a business ward. 1902Westm. Gaz. 12 May 2/1 Men do not doff their hats in the down-town elevators which brought her up to the big office..near the top of one of the high down-town buildings. 1911Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 13 Apr. 7/5 Pedestrians in the down-town district on Friday were interested in the sight of a veritable procession of lorries loaded with high grade Pianos. 1939C. Morley Kitty Foyle 175 His necktie was sort of downtown and Bourse-looking. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz (1958) iv. 33 Squalid little clubs in downtown New York. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Jan. 21/2 The account of the wild sermon in down-town Kingston, vividly conjuring up the crucifixion. 1966New Scientist 14 July 103/2 Mr. Crosland writes about downtown schools, meaning schools in the centres of cities. Pure American, of course, and a very useful term too. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 1/8 A downtown Ottawa office building. 1969Australian 24 May 24/2 (Advt.), Your home in downtown Sydney.
C. n. The lower or business part of a town or city.
1851H. Melville Moby Dick i, Its extreme down-town is the Battery. 1905N.Y. Even. Post 4 Mar. 5 One of the diversions of downtown yesterday was watching the sure movements of a steeplejack. 1955R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (ed. 3) vii. 160 New Orleans' downtown is the old quarter north of Canal Street. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 45/1 (Advt.), At the subway stop..19 minutes from downtown.
Hence ˈdown-ˈtowner, one who lives in or frequents the down-town part of a city.
1830J. F. Watson Ann. Philadelphia 244 They were the Achilles and the Patrocles of the ‘downtowners’. 1887Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) 8 May 12/5 Jay Gould has set down-towners to eating snails. |