| 释义 |
ˈcross-road
[cross- 4, cross a. 1, 1 b.]
1. A road crossing another, or running across between two main roads; a by-road.
1719T. Gardner (title), Pocket Guide to the English Traveller..of all the Principal Roads and Cross Roads in England and Wales. 1745Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury I. 14 The cross-roads are almost impassible. 1859W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 4 One of the loneliest and wildest cross-roads in all South Wales.
2. a. The place where two roads cross each other; the place of intersection of two roads. Also called the cross roads, and dial. a four-cross-road.
(Formerly used as a burial-place for suicides.)
1812Examiner 23 Nov. 739/1 Verdict of the Jury—Felo de se..The body was..buried in a cross-road, with the customary ceremonies. a1845Hood Faithless Nelly Gray xvii, And they buried Ben in four cross-roads With a stake in his inside! 1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 27 Near the cross-roads are the remains of a cairn.
b. fig. (usu. pl.). A point at which two or more courses of action diverge; a critical turning-point.
1795S. J. Pratt Gleanings through Wales I. xv. 238 Join with me..that they may speedily be conducted from the cross roads of life. 1898Nat. Rev. Aug. 908 To place him at the cross roads of starvation and revolt. 1915War Illustr. 6 Mar. 54 Britons at cross-roads of Honour, Glory and Death. 1924E. Y. Mullins (title) Christianity at the cross roads.
c. Phr. dirty work at the cross-roads: see dirty a. 2 b.
3. attrib.
a. Passing or conveyed by cross-roads.
b. (Also cross-roads.) Situated at the crossing of two roads; spec. in U.S. with the implication of smallness, cheapness, etc.
1720Cross-road Letters [see cross-post] 1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6415/2 The Cross-Road Mail which..goes between Chester and Exeter. 1785Gentl. Mag. Oct. 838/2 Comptroller of the bye and cross-road letter office. 1845Southern Lit. Messenger XI. 586/1 The country merchant and cross-road store-keeper. 1848E. Bryant Calif. (1849) 98 The place had something of the air of a cross-roads settlement. 1863W. Phillips Speeches xix. 430 Every cross-road bar-room. 1868Putnam's Mag. June 715/1 Now and then an enterprising specimen of the breed set up a ‘cross-roads grocery’. 1869Champaign Co. (Illinois) Gaz. 26 May 1/2 Defer the payments we may have promised to Cross-roads politicians. 1905Forum Apr. 485 To place an obstacle in the way of the cross-roads politicians. 1935Amer. Speech X. 5/2 A small crossroads community in Vermont. |