| 释义 |
two-way, a. and n.
Hexham (1648) renders Du. twee-wegh by ‘a Two-way, or a double way’.
A. adj.
1. a. Having, or connected with, two ways, roads, or channels; situated where two ways meet.
two-way cock, one with two outlets, which may act together or alternatively.
1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xxv. 12 We stand as it were in a twowayleete, in every of our dooings, we hang in doubt, and are at our wittes end. 1618Bolton Florus i. ix. 36 Being situated in the middest betweene Latium and Tuscanie, as it were in a two-way-leet. 1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 209 The gauge-cock, of which there are usually two, but sometimes one, a two-way cock.
b. Of a plug or adaptor: able to accommodate two plugs at the same time.
1923T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 357 Two-way socket plug. 1977Times 24 Sept. 22/2 You can use two or three-way adaptors..but do be careful not to overload your current supply.
c. Of a loudspeaker: having two separate drive units for different frequency ranges.
1950Audio Engin. Aug. 15/2 Many loudspeakers are two-way: that is, the frequency range is divided and each portion is handled by separate radiating systems. 1960[see three-way a. b]. 1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 18a/1 (Advt.), Two-way bass reflex speaker system. 8-in. woofer, 3-in. tweeter.
2. Extending in two directions or dimensions, or having two modes of variation. (In quot. 1894 coinciding with sense 1.) two-way stretch attrib. phr., designed to stretch in both length and width; also ellipt. such an elastic corset.
1891Cent. Dict. s.v., A surface is a two-way spread. 1894Cayley Math. Papers XIII. 507 The link may rotate in either direction..that is, B may move from B1 along b in either of the two opposite senses, say B1 is a ‘two-way point’. 1932[see girdle n.1 1 d]. 1959News Chron. 19 Aug. 3/8 A girdle of Ellen Terry's—‘I mean a sash, not a two-way stretch.’ 1964Observer 22 Mar. 3/1 Mr Clutson invented the two-way stretch elastic. 1977Summit (Austin Reed, Ltd.) Autumn 44 Men's two-way stretch riding breeches from {pstlg}18.
3. Electr. Of a switch, wiring, etc.: that enables a light or other device to be switched on or off at either of two points.
1893W. P. Maycock Electric Lighting & Power Distribution III. xv. 382 Fig. 240 shows a double-pole, 2-way switch, which would be connected in a parallel circuit in the manner illustrated. 1903Daily Rec. & Mail 15 Dec. 4 As a burglar may be driven out of the house by judicious handling of a two-way switch. 1933D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise vii. 113 The hall-light..was fitted with two-way wiring. 1960Practical Wireless XXXVI. 395/1 A two-way switch is provided so that C9 may be connected to either.
4. a. Involving or permitting movement or communication in each of two opposite directions; (of a radio) capable of both transmitting and receiving.
1922Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 1027/2 A problem of practical importance is that of two-way radiotelephony enabling two communications to speak and hear simultaneously. 1927Glasgow Herald 16 Apr. 7 The purpose..is to strengthen the direct connection between Great Britain and the Middle Western group of American States by increasing the two-way tonnage exchange clearing through the Virginian ports. 1938Radio Times 1 July 6/3 A two-way broadcast arranged by the BBC and the Columbia Broadcasting System of America. 1957L. F. R. Williams State of Israel viii. 144 There is a growing two-way traffic in literature between Israel and other countries.
1967‘R. Stark’ Damsel (1968) ii. 47 Eight lanes of two-way traffic were flanked by broad swaths of green grass. 1971A. Price Alamut Ambush x. 127 He was fixing up the two-way speaker in the porch..so that I could answer the door from here. 1976L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle, Little Spy xxi. 207 Has he got a two-way radio in the car? 1981R. Hayman K xii. 156 A solitude which was unbroken by the two-way traffic in fantasies that went on in his correspondence.
b. Occurring or existing in two directions; reciprocal; two-way street (fig.), a situation of mutual action; something that works both ways.
1950J. Jenks From Ground Up ii. 17 The agri-cultural relationship is, like all vital relationships, two-way. 1951Sun (Baltimore) 14 Dec. 5/6 ‘An amendment..provided that if any company..gave so much as a cigar to a Government employé, the contract should be cancelled... Do you think that should be made stronger?’.. ‘Yes, it is a two-way street.’ 1959Times 19 Sept. 6/3 In sharp contrast with other days this week the market was more ‘two-way’—that is, there was more buying to offset the selling. 1968H. Waugh Con Game xi. 101 ‘Our aim in this racket is to use you.’ ‘I prefer to think of it as a two-way street.’ 1969T. F. Torrance Theol. Sci. ii. 67 The relation between God and the creature is a two-way relation. 1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xiv. 214 Some will have had very little sustained two-way conversation in the home. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Nov. 1392/5 Tolerance..was a two-way street: if the Germans were to learn to live with the Jews, so too must the Jews learn to live with the Germans. 1982Times 12 Jan. 12/3 The jobbers..encountered a fair amount of two-way business.
c. two-way mirror, a mirror which lets through enough light for an observer at the back to see through it, without being seen from the front.
1967J. Gardner Madrigal i. 3 They directed total concentration through the sighting side of a two-way mirror. 1974Times 23 Jan. 2/5 Everyone laughed at a show business party when looking through a two-way mirror at couples having sexual intercourse. 1982R. Hill Who guards a Prince i. viii. 57 Locking doors was an empty gesture in these days of two-way mirrors.
B. n. A two-way radio.
1963‘W. Haggard’ High Wire v. 54 There's an operator with a two-way somewhere near the junction. I'm picking up his message. 1974V. Brome Day of Destruction v. 51 We've just received a message over the two-way to say he's stuck..in the middle of a swamp. |