| 释义 |
switchback, a. and n.|ˈswɪtʃbæk|
[f. switch v. 6 + back adv.]
A. adj.
a. Applied to a form of railway used on steep slopes, consisting of a zigzag series of lines connected by switches, at each of which the train or car is ‘switched back’ or reversed in direction. Also fig. and in extended transf. uses.
b. Applied to a railway consisting of a series of steep alternate ascents and descents, on which the train or car runs partly or wholly by the force of gravity, the momentum of each descent carrying it up the succeeding ascent; esp. to such a railway constructed for amusement at a pleasure-resort. Hence transf. of a road having steep alternate ascents and descents.
1887R. Fry Let. 21 Nov. (1972) I. 117 Some of us went on a switchback railway (the sensation of which I thought very pleasant). 1888Lees & Clutterbuck B.C. 1887 xxxiv. (1892) 373 We began the ascent of the range, which..is accomplished by what is called a ‘switchback’ railway. This contrivance is a series of zigzags, and has no similarity to the..sport lately introduced into England under the same name. 1896Gentl. Mag. CCLXXX. 126 The effect on the infamous road we travelled was a combination of the switchback railway and ‘razzle-dazzle’. 1899Daily News 8 May 5/5 The switchback road of Earlswood-common. 1908F. W. Lanchester Aerodonetics 30 A magnificent flight, remarkable ‘switch-back’ flight path, distance, relative to the wind, probably over 600 yards. 1912G. Mackenzie Carnival ix. 90 Jenny thought what horrible places they were, these sweeping moorland wastes..with switchback stone walls. 1961Daily Tel. 5 Sept. 12/2 Where Mr Hill made much more sense was in criticising what he called the Government's ‘switchback economies’. 1965Daily Mail 28 Oct. 5/3 A dangerous ‘switchback’ course can build up as the plane descends. 1978S. Wilson Dealer's Move vii. 116, I got hung up behind a couple of lorries... It was switch-back country and there was no way you could see what was coming.
B. n. A switchback railway (in either sense); also transf. and fig.; applied in N. Amer. to a tight bend on an ascending road or trail.
1863Harper's Mag. Sept. 465/1 We descend from our high elevation by gravity, changing our direction at various points by means of what is called a Switch-back. 1887A. A. Hayes Jesuit's Ring 162 A temporary expedient in the way of a switch-back. 1888Pall Mall G. 8 Sept. 4/1 The popularity of the switchback is due to the exhilaration and excitement of a jerky rush through the air at a speed over varying angles suggestive of danger. 1895J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 129 Fortunately the switchback of human sensations brings us back again and again to the pinnacle of hope. 1897Mrs. A. Tweedie Through Finland vii. 139 The Finlanders put up a Kälkbacke or Skrinnbacke, in imitation of their Russian friends... They are really switchbacks made of ice and snow. 1933Nat. Geogr. Mag. Feb. 196 (caption) An excellent highway climbs by turns and switchbacks through natural timber to the top of the towering dome. 1934[see giant racer s.v. giant n. 6]. 1965Daily Mail 28 Oct. 5/3 If the Vanguard..was on the down-slope of a switchback when the talk-down was ended,..probably no further cause for the crash need be sought. 1969Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 9 Nov. 7/1 Steep grades are not the only challenge on this road. Several of the switchbacks are so tight that much manoeuvring is required to get around them. 1976J. Snow Cricket Rebel 61 Each time I was to find the county side at a lower ebb, with the team on a down slide of the switchback we rode in the 1960s.
Hence ˈswitchback v. intr., to take a zigzag course like a switchback railway (A. a); ˈswitch-backed ppl. a., ˈswitchbacking vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1903Blackw. Mag. Apr. 499/2 The railway cork-screwed and switch-backed up a rise of a couple of thousand feet in seventeen miles. 1913Outing Jan. 498/1 Switch-backing or zigzagging up a hill is simply striking off to the right, for instance, at an angle and then turning off to the left. 1930J. Collier His Monkey Wife vi. 72 Electric light cables..switch⁓backed along the undulating coast. 1963Times 16 Feb. 11/1 Another short drop leads to the edge of the lake with its bathing station and a surrealist structure built for high diving and switchbacking into the water. 1972Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 13 Oct. 86/2 A switchbacking lane over the heath to Studland. 1976B. Bova Multiple Man (1977) vi. 65 My rented car climbed the switch-backed driveway. |