cruisen.
/kruːz/, U.S. /kruz/ 1.
a. The action of cruising; a voyage in which the ship sails to and fro over a particular region. spec. a voyage taken by tourists. Also attributive.
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society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > a voyage > cruise
cruise1706
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > a voyage > cruise > for pleasure
pleasure cruise1837
cruise1906
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Cruise or Cruising, the Course of a Ship.
1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. ii. 221 A Turkish Half-Galley, armed for the Cruise, touched at a small Port.
1758 J. Blake Plan Marine Syst. 64 If they are sent to sea on a foreign voyage, or cruize.
a1893 Mod. A cruise round the coast.
1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million (1916) 91 The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises.
1933 N. Coward Design for Living ii. iii That world cruise was a fatal mistake.
1937 R. Macaulay I would be Private 43 Dressed in all those cruise clothes.
1962 Listener 11 Jan. 90/2 Cruise-ships and charabancs and monstrous hordes of hikers are blots upon the landscape [in Greece].
1971 Sunday Times 3 Jan. 72/1 Standards on board British cruise liners are generally high.
b. transferred and figurative.
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1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle I. xvi. 118 What you are on the cruize for a post, brother Trickle, an't ye?
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville I. 118 To prosecute their cruise in the wilderness.
1879 Ld. Dunraven in 19th Cent. July 58 We started off to take a little cruise round the edge of the barren..Cruising is performed on land as well as at sea.
2. A survey or estimate of the amount of timber in a particular area. Cf. cruise v. 2. Chiefly U.S.
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the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [noun] > tree-crop > measurements of standing timber
stumpage1854
scale1877
increment1889
taper1893
basal area1895
form factor1895
cruise1911
1911 J. F. Wilson Land Claimers viii. 112 I finished the cruise today.
1953 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. I (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 35 To cruise, surveying of forest land to locate merchantable timber and estimate its quantity..; the estimate obtained in such a survey.
3. Short for cruise missile n. at Compounds below.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > guided or ballistic missile > [noun] > types of
loon1947
seeker1949
Honest John1952
Nike1952
heat-seeker1956
anti-ballistic missile1957
Polaris1957
Pershing1958
SAM1958
cruise missile1959
sea-cat1959
minuteman1961
ABM1963
lance1964
Exocet1970
trident1972
MX missile1973
stinger1975
cruise1976
tomahawk1976
silo buster1977
Euromissile1979
Brilliant Pebbles1988
1976 Listener 16 Sept. 322/2 A short film about the cruise.
1986 Church Times 14 Feb. 14/1 The General Synod debate and resolutions supported neither the unilateralists nor the supporters of Cruise and Trident.
Compounds
Special combinations.
cruise control n. originally U.S. (a) Aeronautics the regulation of the flying speed, etc., of an aircraft in order to achieve maximum fuel efficiency; (b) chiefly North American a device fitted to some motor vehicles which allows the driver to maintain a constant cruising speed on motorways, etc., without depressing the accelerator pedal; the facility for regulating the speed of a motor vehicle in this way.
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society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [noun] > regulation of speed for economy
cruise control1949
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > speed control apparatus
accelerator1900
gas pedal1914
cruise control1949
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Oct. 1/5 Some proponents of the B-36 now predict that with ‘cruise control’ (the technique of getting more mileage out of a gallon of fuel by careful attention to adjustments, airplane flying position, wind and other factors) a range of 12,000 miles or more is in prospect.
1960 Pop. Sci. Apr. 95/1 With a lever you can set either for speed warning or automatic cruise control.
1968 Autocar 14 Mar. 16/1 Speedostat cruise control now imported from the USA... Fully automatic operation the main feature, with a ‘speed-limit’ reminder as a useful half-way provision.
1972 Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) xiii. 2 Cruise control, the method of operating an aircraft to produce optimum fuel economy with regard to time or distance, or both.
1977 National Observer (U.S.) 1 Jan. 8/5 Two Cadillacs equipped with cruise control, a device that holds a car at a constant speed, have been in accidents allegedly because of a defect in the cruise-control system.
1985 New Yorker 22 Apr. 51/3 Plenty of smooth-riding Ford and General Motors sedans loaded with options like cruise control, tilt steering wheels, FM with the AM, a few tape decks and C.B.s, but nothing truly ostentatious.
cruise missile n. originally U.S. a weapon in the form of a guided pilotless jet aircraft carrying a warhead and able to fly at low altitudes.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > guided or ballistic missile > [noun] > types of
loon1947
seeker1949
Honest John1952
Nike1952
heat-seeker1956
anti-ballistic missile1957
Polaris1957
Pershing1958
SAM1958
cruise missile1959
sea-cat1959
minuteman1961
ABM1963
lance1964
Exocet1970
trident1972
MX missile1973
stinger1975
cruise1976
tomahawk1976
silo buster1977
Euromissile1979
Brilliant Pebbles1988
1959 Aviation Week May 85/1 Severest test to date for Bomarc A was a simulated operational launch against North American X-10 test vehicle from the Navaho cruise missile program.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 7 Feb. 5/2 The cruise missile, essentially, is a sophisticated, unmanned airplane.
1977 Sci. Amer. Feb. 20/3 A cruise missile requires continuous guidance, since both the velocity and the direction of its flight can be unpredictably altered by local weather conditions.
1983 Daily Tel. 31 Jan. 7/2 The threat to peace was not from the Cruise missile.
1984 Guardian 5 Nov. 2/2 The plans could include the use of cruise missiles with conventional warheads to knock out single targets such as bridges or airfields deep behind the enemy front lines.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
cruisev.
/kruːz/, U.S. /kruz/ 1.
a. intransitive. To sail to and fro over some part of the sea without making for a particular port or landing-place, on the look out for ships, for the protection of commerce in time of war, for plunder, or (in modern times) for pleasure.
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society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > cruise or sail about
ship1387
range1618
cruise1651
boat1817
meander1821
1651 G. Carteret in E. Nicholas Papers (1886) I. 236 Van Trump is with his fleete crusinge about Silly.
1668 G. Etherege She wou'd if she Cou'd ii. i. 17 Two men of War That are cruising here, to watch for Prizes.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World i. 8 Our first place of rendezvous..was the Canary Islands, where we were to cruise ten days for one another.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. vii. 70 They were to cruize off that Island only ten days.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 120 A breeze of wind..under which we cruised the whole day, among floes and drift-ice, in search of whales.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 573 Several English men of war were cruising in the Channel.
b. transferred and figurative. Esp. of an aircraft or automobile: to travel at cruising speed; of a taxicab: to travel about at random seeking business.
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society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > fly [verb (intransitive)] > at cruising speed
cruise1915
waffle1941
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > movement of vehicles > move or go along [verb (intransitive)] > of taxi: travel about randomly seeking fare
cruise1930
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport by vehicles plying for hire > [verb (intransitive)] > drive a cab > travel at random seeking business
lob1819
cruise1930
to hang up1930
1699 G. Farquhar Love & Bottle i. 3 Madam, how would you like to Cruise about a little?
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 49 Fancy still cruizes, when poor Sense is tir'd.
1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life 5 Blackbirds will cruise along the whole length of a hedge before finding a bush to their liking.
1915 Sphere 5 June 229/2 A craft [sc. Zeppelin] which can slip through the air with the speed of an express train and cruise about for thirty-six hours.
1930 ‘A. Armstrong’ Taxi v. 49 A ‘crawling’ or ‘cruising’ taxi being one that meanders along the road..looking for fares.
1934 Discovery Dec. 350/2 Aeroplanes like the Handley Page 42 which cruises at a speed of 110 m.p.h.
1959 ‘E. Peters’ Death Mask i. 7 He didn't cross to one of the parked cars..nor halt to look round for a cruising taxi.
c. transitive. To sail to and fro over.
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society > travel > travel by water > [verb (transitive)] > cruise
range1589
cruise1687
1687 A. Lovell tr. C. de Bergerac Comical Hist. ii. 17 Our Predecessors..a Thousand times had cruised the Ocean.
1890 S. Lane-Poole Barbary Corsairs i. xii. 124 We cruised the waters of the Levant.
1971 Sunday Times 3 Jan. 54/8 (advt.) Board a luxury liner to cruise the most colourful waters in the world.
1971 Observer 10 Jan. 37/3 (advt.) Cruise the lovely Erne waterway.
d. intransitive and transitive. To walk or drive about (the streets) in search of a casual sexual (esp. homosexual) partner; to solicit (a person), entice. slang (originally U.S.).
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual relationship > have sexual relationship [verb (intransitive)] > walk or drive about in search of casual sex
troll1377
cruise1927
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [verb (intransitive)] > frequent prostitutes > kerb-crawl
cruise1927
kerb-crawl1971
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual relationship > have sexual relationship with [verb (transitive)] > walk or drive about in search of casual sex
cruise1946
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [verb (transitive)] > solicit > by driving about the streets
cruise1946
1903 [implied in: H. Hapgood Autobiogr. Thief ii. 34 Even the Bowery ‘cruisers’ (street-walkers) carried them. (at cruiser n. 1d)].
1927 [implied in: A. J. Rosanoff et al. Man. Psychiatry (ed. 6) 203 In the most respectable class [of homosexuals] are those who do no ‘cruising’. (at cruising n. b)].
1941 in J. N. Katz Gay/Lesbian Almanac (1983) 575 Cruise, to walk or drive in an automobile..aimlessly but in certain specific and likely areas, looking..for a companion for homosexual intercourse.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues xi. 203 We cruised these two chicks up to Harlem for some ribs.
1968 Globe Mag. (Toronto) 13 Jan. 6/3 A homosexual who is cruising..might make an effeminate gesture as a signal that he is a homosexual.
1970 ‘E. Queen’ Last Woman iii. 163 I never cruised anyone connected with the college... All my pickups were made far off campus.
1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) vii. 20/1 Whiling away the best years of her life cruising Fourth Street.
1984 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Dec. 1455/4 Male metropolitan homosexuals..who cruise compulsively.
2. transitive and intransitive. Forestry. (See quots.) Chiefly U.S.
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the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > lumber [verb (intransitive)] > prospect for timber
cruise1879
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [verb (transitive)] > prospect for timber
cruise1919
1879 A. P. Vivian Wanderings in Western Land 53 Experienced men are sent out into the forests exploring, or to use their own term ‘cruising’; their object being..to find suitable lumber for chopping.
1895 Outing 27 218/2 I found he was off ‘cruising’ (i.e. hunting up good timber tracts).
1919 T. K. Holmes Man from Tall Timber 40 Si and me cruised a part of this timber before ever you fellers come down from Blainesburg.
1953 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. I (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 35 To cruise, surveying of forest land to locate merchantable timber and estimate its quantity..; the estimate obtained in such a survey.
Draft additions October 2011
intransitive. figurative. To advance or succeed with ease, esp. in a match, race, or other competition; (also) to expend a minimum of effort.
Π
1934 Washington Post 16 Jan. 15/8 The Mount Pleasant quintet has cruised to fairly easy wins over Western and Roosevelt.
1965 in A. Howard & R. West Making of Prime Minister xi. 178 Harold wouldn't have a strategy—just thought he could cruise to victory making nice speeches.
1979 N.Y. Times 4 Feb. v. 2/1 I cruised through high school, destined, it seemed, for contented mediocrity.
1996 Ice Hockey News Rev. 28 Sept. 34/2 With Hawks 5–2 up at halfway they looked to be cruising—then the game turned.
2010 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 21 May 65 It sometimes felt more like a blether with a mate than a show. He often looked as though he was just cruising and the show simply petered out.
Draft additions October 2011
Of an infant.
a. intransitive. To walk while holding on to furniture or other stationary objects for stability, prior to learning to do so without support.
Π
1928 A. Gesell Infancy & Human Growth ii. 38 If locomotor interests predominate he may clamber the entrance steps or cruise along or on top of the tempting low bench which skirts the length of the room.
1943 M. O. Lerrigo Children can help Themselves 48 He can walk without anyone to help him if he has the support of some furniture. He cruises along sideways, holding on to the bed, or the porch railing.
1989 A. Dillard Writing Life ii. 36 The baby, just learning to walk, had cruised from the chairs to the table.
1995 Mother & Baby June 67/1 Standing alone usually happens around your child's first birthday, with his first steps following soon after as he begins to cruise around the room, holding onto the furniture for support.
b. transitive. To walk using (furniture or other stationary objects) for support; to move around (a room, etc.) in this way.
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1981 B. L. White First Year of Life 55/1 Some are cruising the furniture; a few are taking a step or two alone; and still fewer are walking.
1997 A. Fadiman Spirit catches you & you fall Down v. 44 Cruises sides of crib. Makes baby sounds.
2010 Mirror (Nexis) 1 Nov. 36 It is around this time when babies start standing up and cruising the living room, holding on to furniture.
Draft additions October 2011
transitive. To walk around or through (a place) in a leisurely manner, esp. in search of something; (hence) to browse or peruse.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > traverse on foot [verb (transitive)]
treadOE
walka1400
overwalk1533
pad1553
stroll1693
cruise1948
1948 E. Leaf Isles of Rhythm iv. 74 I cruised the night clubs and native cafés seeking new dance material to record for this book.
1963 D. Tracy Big Brass Ring iii. i. 312 Aboard the train,..he cruised the sleepers until he found a porter who agreed on the strength of a five-dollar bill that it would inconvenience nobody if he sat in the washroom.
1985 Company Dec. 160/1 We cram our homes solid with junk and then cruise the local car-boot sales in the hope of acquiring someone else's.
1992 D. Coupland Shampoo Planet xxix. 134 Cruising the morning paper for her horoscope.
1993 Newsweek 13 Sept. 44/2 He is cruising Astor Place,..searching for an Avedon face to put in front of his camera.
2000 Combat Handguns Mar. 81/2 No flirting with secretaries or receptionists, no playing video games or cruising the Internet on office computers.
Draft additions October 2011
colloquial (originally U.S.). to be cruising for a bruising: to be following a course of action likely to result in one's being beaten or injured (also figurative); (more generally) to be looking for or inviting trouble. Frequently as a threat or warning.
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1943 Daily News (Huntingdon, Pa.) 26 July 2/1 Two Pioneer players got jolted by Moose baserunners... Cruising for Bruising on the basepaths—what a headline!]
1945 Bee (Danville, Va.) 30 Nov. 6/7 (heading) Claassen says Navy cruising for bruising against Army... Army will defeat Navy in Saturday's service clash.
1957 Boys' Life Oct. 97/2 Kid, you're sure cruisin' for a bruisin'.
1964 W. Markfield To Early Grave vii. 128 He wants a pregnant lip!.. He's cruising for a bruising!
1987 Changing Times Nov. 67 By measures of valuation, the market is cruisin' for a bruisin'.
2006 ‘A. Ant’ Stand & Deliver iii. 79 To those guys, anyone under forty years old on stage was cruising for a bruising.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1706v.1651- breams
- breards
- breast
- breast backstay
- breast badge
- breast beam
- breast binder
- breast binding
- breast biopsy
- breast bow
- breast brooch
- breast button
- breast cancer
- breast chain
- breast collar
- breast coverchief
- breast cut
- breast cylinder
- breast drill
- breast feeder
- breast gasket
- breast girdle
- breast glass
- breast guard
- breast harness