| 释义 |
ˈtram-line
Also tramline.
[f. tram n.2 5 or 6 + line n.2: cf. railway line.]
1. A tramway; also, a tram-rail.
1886Hare Story my Life (1900) VI. xxiv. 9 We were taken back to the tram-line. 1895Zangwill Master ii. ix, The yellow sand scattered on slippery days along the tram⁓lines. 1896Times 30 Sept. 7/6 Tenders are to be sent in..to the tramline's offices. 1905Visct. Ridley in Daily Chron. 21 July 5/5 The Bill dealt with several new tramlines, three of which were uncontested and not very important.
2. transf. in pl. Either pair of parallel lines bordering the side of a lawn-tennis court, the inner of each pair marking the boundary of the court for singles and the outer for doubles. Occas. sing., one of this pair of lines. colloq.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 906/1 Tram-lines, the 4½ ft. wide area on each side of a (doubles) lawn-tennis court: sporting: from ca. 1929. Esp. down the tram-lines, i.e. more or less straight along this strip of the court. 1959Times 31 Aug. 12/1 It passed an inch outside the tram⁓line. 1978G. Forbes Handful of Summers ix. 180 Cliff..hit a two-hander down Rodney's tramlines.
3. transf. and fig. Chiefly pl., inflexible, predetermined or restrictive courses of action, principles, etc.
1948D. Welch Brave & Cruel 68, I ran it [sc. a nail-brush] up and down his back until I'd made harsh red tramlines. 1955H. Spring These Lovers fled Away iv. 113 One [obstacle] was..his addiction to social tram-lines. As things had been, they should, in a well-organised world, remain. 1967Times Rev. Industry Oct. 60/2 Tramline thinking..delays improvement in the quality of the trade union movement itself. 1976Listener 22 July 85/3 The government..is forced..more and more on to orthodox, predictable tramlines, and protestations that imagination, vision and radical policy must await more prosperous days. 1979J. Wainwright Duty Elsewhere vii. 28 Most chief constables tend to run on tram-lines... They feel safer.
Hence ˈtram-lined a., furnished with tram-lines.
1924W. J. Locke Coming of Amos xiii. 171 He stepped into the car and..drove at break-neck speed down the tram-lined hill. 1932Auden Orators iii. 89 Tudor from the tram-lined town. |