| 释义 |
ˈrun-about
Also runabout.
1. a. One who runs about from place to place; a roving or strolling person; dial. a pedlar. Also, an assistant, a dogsbody.
[1377Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 150 Robert renne-aboute shal nowȝte haue of myne.] 1549in Tytler Edw. VI (1839) I. 187 Let one of those Runabouts come,..straight they call up their neighbours. 1607Marston What you Will iii. i, A runne-about, a skipping French-man. 1685R. Dunning Plain Method 11 Not..of the better sort of Workmen, but equal with the Scotchmen, the most genteel sort of Run⁓abouts. 1820Blackw. Mag. May 163 Some handy rin⁓about had emptied our laird's hen-bawks. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., A hawker or pedlar is often called a run-about. 1957[see garde champêtre]. 1959M. Summerton Small Wilderness i. 15 He hadn't relished my taking a job as a tea-maker and general runabout on a ritzy household magazine. 1976J. Fraser Who steals my Name? xv. 186 A constable was kept on duty as a part-time secretary to the chief superintendent, a run-about, a screen protecting his privacy.
b. attrib. Given to wandering or roving.
1775J. Woodforde Diary 13 June (1924) I. 163 His whole Face..was uncommonly ugly, not unlike one of the runabout gipsies. 1788Wesley Wks. (1872) VII. 210 Begging that he would please to ‘take a course to stop these run-about Preachers’. 1884Folk Lore Jrnl. II. 6, I am not one of those runabout doctors. 1899Raymond No Soul above Money ii. ii, You fortune-telling, thieving, runabout rogue!
2. A plant inclined to straggle or stray.
1882Garden 15 July 52/1 The plant is not quite such a run-about.
3. Austral. (See quot. 1898.)
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xviii. 218 ‘Open that gate, Piambook,’ said Ernest.., pointing to the one which led into the ‘run-about’ yard. 1898Morris Austral Eng. 397/2 Runabouts are cattle left to graze at will, and the runabout-yard is the enclosure for homing them.
4. A small light horse-vehicle or motor-car. Also attrib. with car.
1890in Cent. Dict. 1900Ade Fables in Slang 155 He took her riding in his new Runabout every Evening. 1900Motor-Car World I. 130/2 A new small car... It is known as the University Runabout. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 835/1 The horses high of action,..the runabout rolling dreamily on its cushion tires. 1902Westm. Gaz. 30 May 5/1 The battery..propelled a ‘runabout’ car sixty-two miles over roads of varying quality. 1912Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 144/1 The ‘auto⁓carrier’..gives everything that the small runabout motor-car can offer. 1930Punch 2 Apr. 374/1 Just ahead of us was a small runabout car. 1949Chicago Tribune 18 Sept. 34/2 Among some 70 old-time cars will be a one cylinder 1904 Cadillac runabout, [etc.]. 1956News Chron. 1 Nov. 8/5 It is the latest in a line of economy runabouts—the Mark E Bond Minicar. 1968‘J. Le Carré’ Small Town in Germany ii. 24 The pavements are obstructed by the runabout cars of British Counsellors' wives. 1980Times 7 Mar. 25 Whereas the Mini is really a Town runabout, the Metro is conceived as a family car that will be more comfortable for longer runs.
5. A light aircraft.
1904A. Santos-Dumont My Airships xxii. 282, I determined to build a small air-ship runabout for my pleasure and convenience only. 1922Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 3/6 Arrangements are being made..to launch the first power-driven runabout of the air. 1932Flight 13 Oct. 952 The machines would have been the forerunners of cheap aerial runabouts. 1959Economist 3 Jan. 58/2 A small aircraft need not be barred from using a big airport provided that it carries radio. But many of the smallest runabouts have no radio. 1966P. O'Donnell Sabre-Tooth vi. 87 The twin-engined de Haviland Dove, the six-passenger aircraft which plied as a runabout from the valley..to Kabul. 1977‘J. Le Carré’ Hon. Schoolboy xii. 273 ‘Is that a single-engine plane?’.. ‘Kind of executive runabout kind of thing.’
6. orig. and chiefly U.S. A small motor-boat.
1932Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 7 Sept. 10/3 This event will be followed by..two free-for-all outboard races and a race for runabouts not over 50 horsepower. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 16 Sept. 12 (caption) The D, E, F and G Class service and racing runabouts leave the starting line in the second heat. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 64 ‘Help,’ said Di Presso, looking back..across the lake. Another runabout had appeared and was headed toward them. 1970J. Cleary Helga's Web xv. 274 He had started up the motor of the runabout and cruised quietly back to the yacht. 1975B. Garfield Hopscotch ii. 27 A little motor runabout zipped past the barge. |