| 释义 |
eight hours
A period of time regarded as a fair working-day; freq. attrib. (or with possessive apostrophe) and in form eight-hour (esp. in phr. eight-hour day).
1845Disraeli Sybil vi. vi. 430 We have a right to four shillings a day wages, eight hours' work and two pots of ale.—A fair day's wage for a fair day's work. 1865Nation (N.Y.) I. 517/2 It is enough to condemn the scheme of this eight-hour labor league to say that..it would diminish production. 1867in S. & B. Webb Hist. Trade Un. (1920) 309 Such a measure of legislative restriction as shall secure a uniform Eight Hours Bill in factories, exclusive of meal-times. 1869C. L. Brace New West v. 60 The effort to gain a larger share of the profits of capital by means of an Eight-Hour Law. Ibid. 61 From all we can hear, the eight hour movement will soon fall to the ground. 1891S. Webb & H. Cox (title) The eight hours day. 1895in Encycl. Brit. (1902) XXXII. 668/1 Higher wages and eight hours for Government workmen—all these things were in the direction of helping the unemployed. 1899Daily News 6 Mar. 7/1 It should never be forgotten that Alfred was the inventor of the eight hour day. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 668/1 English public opinion was sceptical when the Trades Union Congresses declared themselves powerless to establish an eight hours' working day without the help of the State. 1910J. F. Fraser Australia 202 The eight hours' day is operative throughout the Commonwealth. 1948J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 227 An eight-hour day for all. |