| 释义 |
main line
[f. main a. + line n.2 26 b.]
1. The principal line of a railway.
1841[see line n.2 26 b]. 1865Trollope Belton Est. vii. 74 At Taunton there branched away from the main-line that line which was to take her to Perivale. 1880Harper's Mag. July 196/2 The main line will soon have reached the Rio Grande Valley. 1959Chambers's Encycl. XI. 488/2 The first lengthy main line, the Grand Junction, was opened in 1837. 1970O. S. Nock Rail, Steam & Speed i. 17 A ‘Gladstone’ gliding effortlessly down one of the 1 in 264 banks of the Brighton main line.
b. transf. A principal route, connection, conduit, family, etc. U.S.
1845Hunt's Merchant's Mag. XIII. 127 The main line of state works of Pennsylvania extends from the city of Philadelphia..to the city of Pittsburg. 1925Amer. Speech I. 136/1 The cable that hauled the logs was called ‘the main line’. 1945S. J. Perelman Crazy like Fox 124 Why not follow the example of glamorous Mrs Barney Kessler, socially prominent matron of the Main Line. 1952Sunday Times 3 Feb. 5/4 ‘Main line’..in America..is widely applied to important roads or conduits or arteries of one kind or another.
c. A large or principal vein, into which drugs can readily be injected; hence, an intravenous injection of drugs; the act or habit of making such an injection. slang (orig. U.S.).
1933Amer. Speech VIII. ii. 27/2 The main line is the blood vessel into which the injection is made. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 182/2 From my dropper I'll shake the dust, From my spike I'll scrape the rust, And my old main-line I'll bust. 1953W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) iii. 33, I began shooting in the main line to save stuff and because the immediate kick was better. 1959‘E. McBain’ Pusher iv. 36, I gave him a snort... He got on mainline a couple of weeks later. 1968‘J. Welcome’ Hell is where you find It xiv. 165 What about the purple hearts? Gone on main line yet? 1970Sunday Times 8 Mar. 1/2 She was taking big doses of heroin..by mainline-injection into a vein—every four hours.
2. attrib. or quasi-adj. (often with hyphen).
a. Of or pertaining to the main line of a railway.
1879E. J. Simmons Mem. Station Master (1974) viii. 124, I couldn't take charge of this main-line station if you gave me all the world. 1884R. Pike Railway Adventures & Anecdotes 93 A gentleman..got into a first-class carriage..with the intention of proceeding home by one of the main line down trains. 1926Daily Express 11 May 1/1 Great improvements in the main line train services continue to be made throughout the country. 1958New Statesman 11 Oct. 484/2 Wuhsi..apparently sees a foreigner rarely although it is a large main-line city. 1969M. Gilbert Etruscan Net i. i. 13 At main line stations they have a nose for these things.
b. transf. and fig. Principal; occupying a principal or important position; also, ‘middle-of-the-road’, ‘mainstream’.
1941Blunden Thomas Hardy iii. 42 Here he wrote one of his main-line novels. 1941Time 20 Jan. 77 High life in Philadelphia's Main Line society. 1958Listener 13 Nov. 775/1 Asimov's two books..in addition to being main-line science fiction, are also ‘whodunits’ in the classic tradition. 1963Guardian 29 Apr. 9/1 She is from a wealthy main-line Philadelphia family. 1965P. Freund Spymaster 114 His family, though not Main Line, was acceptable. 1968Punch 11 Sept. 378/3 The enthusiasm of American main-line politicians for TV is said to be waning. 1972Times 15 Apr. 16/4 The ‘mainline Christian churches’, says these young folk, have sold out to the ‘establishment’.
c. Of, pertaining to, or characterized by the intravenous injection of drugs. Also fig.
1938Amer. Speech XIII. 187/2 Main-line shooter, a vein-shooter. 1944R. A. Moore Textbk. Path. xlvii. 522 On occasion, as in ‘main-line’ drug addicts, the fungus may be introduced directly into the blood. 1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) 173 A big shot of heroin in the main-line vein. 1969Daily Tel. 29 Jan. 21/7 He was allowed a daily prescription of three grains—18 pills—of heroin. These were dissolved and injected directly into the bloodstream, which was known as the ‘mainline’ method. 1969Punch 26 Feb. 295/3 Flattery is the mainline drug of the theatre—there is no one connected with that ridiculous institution who does not need his fix. 1972Times 10 Apr. 10/4 As a mainline addict of BBC news..it has taken a week of comparing news on the two channels..to push me into the ranks of the deserters. 1974G. Jenkins Bridge of Magpies iii. 46 Then you'll be like that poor bugger coming off now in the boat. Started smoking grass. Grew the stuff..in a potty in his cottage... He's on to mainline stuff now. |