lanen.1
/leɪn/, U.S. /leɪn/ I. Senses relating to a narrow street or passageway.
1. figurative.?a1625 Lawes of Candy i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ggg3/1 The man That had a heart to thinke he could but follow..through the lanes Of danger and amazement.
a. A narrow way between hedges or banks; a narrow road or street between houses or walls; a bye-way. blind lane, †turn-again lane: a cul-de-sac (see also quot. 1725).
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > lane > [noun]
lane971
twitchenOE
twitchelc1196
loaning1324
loan1362
stowc1440
strait1622
laning1638
slip1739
drong1787
loke1787
twittena1798
boreen1841
hutung1922
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > cul-de-sac > [noun]
blind lanec1386
turn-again lane1531
blind alley1582
close1723
turn-again alley1754
loke1787
cul-de-sac1800
no-thoroughfare1809
dead-ender1870
impasse1882
blind lead1885
no through road1933
971 Blickl. Hom. 237 Forþon þe..þinne lichoman geond þisse ceastre lanan hie tostenceað.
c1386 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Prol. & Tale 105 In the suburbes of a toun..Lurkynge in hernes and in lanes blynde.
a1400 Sir Beues (A.) 4439 Þe cri aros be ech a side Boþe of lane and of strete.
1480 W. Worcester in J. Nasmith Itineraria (1778) 177 A laane goyng yn the south syde of Seynt Stevyn chyrch.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. (1482) ccxlii. 278 Euery strete and lane in london and in the subarbes.
1511 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 338 Clensyng of the lanys at the comyng in off the towne.
1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 John Prol., in Wks. (1573) 388/1 It is becomme a turnagaine lane vnto them, which they can not goe thorough.
1611 Bible (King James) Luke xiv. 21 Goe..into the streetes and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poore. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 13 Lo. Where was this Lane? Post. Close by the battell, ditch'd, & wall'd with turph.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 105 The Hedges and Lanes are chiefly set with two sorts of Bushes.
1725 New Canting Dict. Blind Lane, a Lane fit to run down to avoid Pursuers, after a Villainy committed.
1794 Act Inclos. S. Kelsey 12 Any of the Roads or Ways within the Manor..which shall be made into Lanes, or fenced on both Sides.
1828 M. R. Mitford Our Village III. 148 Their way..leading through cross country lanes.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Miller's Daughter xvii, in Poems (new ed.) 41 The lanes were white with May.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) vii. 66 Their walk..lay through shady lanes.
b. Proverb. Also allusively.
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a1777 S. Foote Trip to Calais (1778) ii. 49 It is a long lane that has no turning.
1890 W. E. Norris Misadventure xvii The longest lane, however, has a turning.
1893 B. Harraden Ships that Pass 158 The lane had come to an ending at last, and Mr. Reffold was dead.
II. Transferred senses.
2. figurative.1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 28 Passe on..to establish the truth though it were through a lane of sects and heresies on each side.
a. A narrow or comparatively narrow passage or way, or something resembling this; esp. a channel of water in an ice-field (also called a vein); the course prescribed for ocean steamers; a route prescribed for aircraft.
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the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > channel for conveyance of water
water leatOE
water lade1224
leat1279
watergang1293
sow1316
trough1398
wissinga1400
lanec1420
waterway1431
water leasow1440
watercoursea1450
fleam1523
lead1541
cut1548
aqueducta1552
lake1559
strand1565
race1570
channel1581
watergauge1597
gout1598
server1610
carriage1669
runnel1669
aquage1706
shoot1707
tewel1725
run1761
penstock1763
hulve1764
way-gang1766
culvert1774
flume1784
shute1790
pentrough1793
raceway1793
water carriage1793
carrier1794
conductor1796
water carrier1827
penchute1875
chute1878
by-cut1883
the world > the earth > water > body of water > [noun]
watereOE
freshlOE
openc1485
strand1513
shard1590
water body1723
drink1832
lane1835
swim1880
nappe1887
dead zone1971
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > channel > [noun]
meatusc1425
channel1427
canal1542
tide-gate1589
euripe1600
Euripus1601
interflow1610
sleeve1614
tides-way1627
gat1723
tideway1798
lane1835
seaway1866
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > [noun] > sailing route > prescribed
lane1862
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > air as medium for operation of aircraft > [noun] > route through the air
skypath1840
airway1873
lane1911
corridor1920
air corridor1922
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. ix. 170 And yf hit happe an hil thi water mete, Let make a lane & thorgh thi licour hale.
1716 J. Gay Trivia iii. 55 Forth issuing from steep Lanes, the Colliers' Steeds Drag the black Load.
1835 J. Ross Narr. Second Voy. North-west Passage Explan. Terms 15 A lane or vein, a narrow channel between two floes or fields, or between the ice and the shore.
1846 Ld. Tennyson Golden Year in Poems (ed. 4) II. 90 And like a lane of beams athwart the sea.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 94 By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas, led Threading the soldier-city.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxviii. 228 A black lane of open water stopped our progress.
1862 H. Holland Atlantic Ocean in Ess. 223 It is proposed to mark off lanes, 20 or 25 miles in width..as the routes..to be followed and adhered to, by all steam vessels.
1911 R. M. Pierce Dict. Aviation 16 Air-lane, a lane or road thru the air.
1929 Encycl. Brit. I. 231/1 Neon lighting is particularly suitable for landing in fog owing to its distinctive colour, and to the fact that long ‘lanes’ of illumination can be provided.
1941 A. O. Pollard Bombers over Reich 105 The clouds parted a little, and the approaching raiders found enemy fighters collected in the open ‘lanes’ like soldiers guarding breaches in a fortification.
1956 J. C. Swayne Conc. Gloss. Geogr. Terms 86 Lane, a much used ocean or air route.
1971 E. C. B. Lee & K. Lee Safety & Survival at Sea i. 8 Safety sea-lanes, consisting of a series of two-way lanes with a safety buffer zone separating the inward and outward bound traffic, are used in the approaches to New York harbour and other seaports.
1971 Sci. Amer. July 1/1 [An automatic weather information station] was moored in the middle of the Gulf Stream, off the Florida Coast, in a hurricane lane.
1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xv. 146 The pilot..climbed again, now that he was no longer forced down under the lanes.
b. A passage between two lines of persons; a way to pass through a crowd.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [noun] > between lines of persons or things
streetc1384
lane1525
alley1631
alleyway1788
gangway1788
aisle1789
lokeway1888
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccxvii. [ccxiii.] 672 The people..made a lane for hym to passe thorough.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1641/2 A double Canon..shooting off, made..a lane among the French men.
1677 London Gaz. No. 1206/1 The Magistrates did..pass through a Lane of their own guards.
1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 395 The People made a Lane for him and the Chariot to pass.
1806 Naval Chron. 15 141 The 7th Royal Veteran battalion..formed a lane two deep.
1860 O. W. Holmes Professor at Breakfast-table v. 149 The fire-buckets passed along a ‘lane’ at a fire.
1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason ii. 24 Then moved the kinsmen..Between a lane of men.
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary i. i. 1 Stand back, keep a clear lane.
1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 145 Every charge [of grape-shot]..leaving a lane of dead from four to five yards wide.
c. In Athletics, a course for a runner marked out by broad chalk-lines (originally strings). Hence also in Swimming, such a course marked out by ropes buoyed up by cork floats.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing on foot > [noun] > course
furlongc1374
stadiec1374
stadium1603
stade1875
lane1909
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > swimming race > [noun] > marked passage for each swimmer
lane1960
1909 in Cent. Dict. Suppl.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 853/2 The course for sprinting races..is marked off in lanes for the individual runners by means of cords stretched upon short iron rods.
1927 Daily Express 23 Mar. 13/5 Sprint-racing in ‘lanes’ instead of in strings will be in force at the next Olympic Games... The ‘lanes’ are marked by chalk lines, and have been used in America for some time.
1955 R. Bannister First Four Minutes 21 I moved out into the second lane so that I could..avoid the danger of being boxed in.
1960 J. Grinham Water Babe xiv. 158 Suddenly the roar in the pool turned to a gasp—Di swam on to the lane ropes.
1970 B. McGregor & A. Still Bobby McGregor Story ix. 77 I stepped on to the poolside of the magnificent Olympic swimming stadium. I took up my position behind lane 2, officially the position for the fifth fastest qualifier.
1971 D. Emery Lillian vii. 75 The bends were tighter on the inside lane and therefore harder to round at full speed.
d. A part of a road, wide enough for one file of vehicles, which is marked out by painted lines and is used to segregate traffic according to speed, intended direction, etc. Also attributive and in other combinations.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > part where vehicles run > part wide enough for one vehicle
traffic lane1903
lane1926
1926 Amer. City Apr. 358/1 One of the most recent developments in highway design is the so-called super-highway where eight or more traffic lanes are provided for on the same right of way.
1933 Evening Standard 19 Apr. 7/2 Roads..would carry any volume of traffic, divided into slow, medium and fast ‘lanes’.
1951 Economist 22 Sept. 685/3 Super-highways; with at least four lanes.
1959 Times 31 Mar. 15/6 The motorist who elects to park his car on a main road reduces the width of the road for a complete traffic lane for what may be hundreds of yards.
1960 Guardian 21 Nov. 2/4 Where there is good lane discipline, traffic should be able to pass on the near side.
1962 Economist 27 Jan. 327/1 Mr Barnes is a great believer in lane-painting to increase the capacity of streets.
1966 T. Wisdom High-performance Driving xi. 111 One is frustrated on a motor~way by the driver ahead in the ‘fast’ lane (if only he appreciated that it is the overtaking lane).
1968 Autocar 7 Mar. 61/3 The first week's working of the London experiments with bus lanes in Park Lane and on Vauxhall Bridge.
1970 Guardian 4 Aug. 15/2 Lane-changing, the constant pressure to keep up speeds.
1971 Daily Tel. 22 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 25/4 In town traffic, lane discipline is more a matter of cunning than of boldness.
1972 Police Rev. 8 Dec. 1597/2 Failure to judge distance at speed and bad lane drill accounted for most of the accidents.
1973 D. Westheimer Going Public ix. 127 Drivers on the inbound lane slowed to a crawl.
e. In ten-pin bowling, etc.: = alley n.1 7.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > ninepins or ten-pins > [noun] > alley
ball-alley1440
alley1541
bowling-alley1555
bowl-alley1628
ninepin yard1665
ninepin alley1682
ten-pin alley1835
lane1960
1960 D. Taylor Secret of Bowling Strikes 125 Most old-fashioned lanes have a center peg in the center of the alley.
1964 F. Brundle Tenpin Bowling Tips 79 In some localities a lane which allows the ball to take a wide hook is termed fast... Some authorities..speak of lanes as either ‘holding’ or ‘running’.
1970 C. Schunk Bowling i. 4 When alleys were first built in the Southern United States, three-fourths of the lanes were constructed for duck pins.
1974 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 26 Oct. 5–D/5 Likewise, the lanes can also be too slick or too dry.
3. Australian. A long narrow yard leading into the final yard in a kangaroo drive.
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1866 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 741 Longer enclosures, called ‘lanes’, led in circuitous fashion to this oubliette.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xviii. 226 About fifty head have been run into the drafting lane... The ‘lane’ is a long narrow yard about three panels wide and eight in length—a panel of fencing is not quite nine feet in length—immediately connected with the pound or final yard.
4.
a. slang. The throat; chiefly in the lane, the narrow, red lane, etc.
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the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > throat or gullet > [noun]
rakeeOE
cudeOE
weasanda1000
chelc1000
throatOE
garget13..
gorgec1390
oesophagusa1398
meria1400
oesophagea1400
swallowa1400
cannelc1400
gull1412
channelc1425
halsec1440
gully1538
encla?1541
stomach?1541
lane1542
weasand-pipe1544
throttlea1547
meat-pipe1553
gargil1558
guttur1562
cropc1580
gurgulio1630
gule1659
gutter lane1684
red lane1701
swallow-pipe1786
neck1818
gullet-pipe1837
foodway1904
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 119 Whole mainour places..thei make no bones ne sticke not, quite and clene to swallowe down the narrowe lane, and the same to spue vp again.
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. iii. sig. B.ij Good ale for the nones. Tib Talk. Whiche will slide downe the lane without any bones.
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 70 O! butter'd egg!.. I bid your yelk glide down my throat's red lane.
1865 London Society Jan. 13 I eat the macaroon. You see it's all gone down Red Lion Lane.
b. the lane: short for various ‘lanes’ in the City or for buildings situated there, e.g.Chancery Lane, Drury Lane (Theatre), Mincing Lane, Petticoat Lane, etc.: see quots.
ΚΠ
1831 P. Egan Show Folks 29 The swell performers..who proudly observe, ‘I am engaged at the Lane.’.. But the ‘Lane’, alluded to in this instance, is Horsemonger Lane; where a number of engagements are suffered to expire.
1856 H. Mayhew Great World London 82 (note) Horsemonger Lane Jail, The Lane.
1865 Chambers's Jrnl. 18 Feb. 106/1 The ‘Lane’ (as Chancery Lane is familiarly called).
1872 B. Jerrold London viii. 77 When on a certain Sunday we turned into Petticoat Lane, we had the key to the activity of the clothes market of Lazarus. The Lane clothes thousands at Epsom.
1879 ‘Autobiog. of a thief’ in Macmillan's Mag. XL. 500 We used to..sell it.. to a fence..down the Lane (Petticoat Lane).
1880 G. R. Sims Forgotten in Ballads of Babylon 9 Whenever the Lane tried Shakespeare, I was one of the leading men.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Apr. 2/3 When people who know that district [Drury-lane] hear it said that there has been ‘another murder in the lane’, they have no need to ask what particular lane is referred to.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 6 Aug. 11/4 ‘The Lane’, as that of Mincing is fondly known among the wholesale grocery crowd.
1926 F. M. Ford Man could stand Up ii. iii. 138 He had lately promised [them] tickets for Drury Lane... The Lane was the locus classicus of the race.
1959 B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green i. 24 I also stand down the Lane [sc. Petticoat Lane] on Sundays now and again. I'm what you might call a purveyor of bad taste.
1974 M. Birmingham You can help Me i. 11 Wentworth Street, down which the stalls of Petticoat Lane market spill... We never say ‘Wentworth Street’; it's ‘The Lane’ to us.
1974 M. Birmingham You can help Me ii. 29 Friday is the day for buying flowers in the Lane.
5. Scottish. A sluggish stream of water; also the smooth part of a stream. (Perhaps a different word.)
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1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Lane, A brook, of which the motion is so slow as to be scarcely perceptible..2. Applied to those parts of a river or rivulet, which are so smooth as to answer this description.
1891 Daily News 2 July 4/8 Vast pastoral expanses, with here a loch, and there a ‘lane’ or sullen deep stream threading the wilderness.
1897 S. R. Crockett Lads' Love xxv. 253 The still, black pools of the lazy, sluggish, peaty ‘lane’.
6. Astronomy. A narrow band or strip in the sky that differs markedly from its immediate surroundings (e.g. in containing no observable stars or in emitting strong radio signals).
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the world > the universe > sky, heavens > [noun] > region, zone
coastc1400
zone1795
star stream1844
lane1899
1899 Astrophysical Jrnl. 9 157 The wonderful nebulous region about Rho Ophiuchi..and..the great vacant lanes near that star.
1917 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 3 678 A study of the negatives of spiral nebulae obtained with the Crossley Reflector has shown that the phenomenon of dark lanes caused by occulting or absorbing matter is much more frequent than had..been supposed.
1964 R. H. Baker Astron. (ed. 8) xvii. 506 The hydrogen lanes traced by Dutch radio observers..in longitudes available to them are shown in Fig. 17·22... In a direction 80° from the sun we note three hydrogen lanes, which trace three spiral arms.
1970 Nature 12 Dec. 1077/1 This is identified with NGC 1579 which is a small, irregular, diffuse nebulosity..with a prominent dark lane.
1971 Nature 21 May 197/3 The underlying common feature of spiral galaxies is the existence of elongated spiral arms traced out by gaseous material (neutral hydrogen lanes; ionized HII regions and dust).
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
lane-end n.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > lane > [noun] > end of lane or alley
wynd head1665
lane-end1898
1898 Westm. Gaz. 12 Mar. 2/1 A proclamation..was..posted at every lane-end throughout his dominions.
lane-side n.
ΚΠ
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 22 Ye doore be the lane syde.
1899 H. T. Timmins Nooks & Corners Shropshire ix. 167 An old country woman tending her cow by the laneside.
1909 Daily Chron. 4 Aug. 7/3 The great crane's-bill..is a true lane-side flower.
1923 Daily Mail 2 Apr. 6 To see the lanesides in this delicate livery of verdure and bloom.
lane-way n.
ΚΠ
1882 Standard 8 Dec. 3/4 There was a border, or laneway, near the house of the Prisoner.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 185 A crowd which had followed him down the laneway collected outside the door.
1933 L. A. G. Strong Sea Wall 258 He charged like a bull across the open space and disappeared into the human laneway.
b.
lane-filling adj.
ΚΠ
1831 W. Howitt Bk. Seasons (1837) 13 Deep, lane-filling, hedge-burying snows.
C2.
lane-born adj. country-born, rustic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > [adjective] > rustic or pastoral
fieldena1425
grangyc1541
shepherdly1579
champestrial1612
geoponical1646
geoponic1663
Arcadian1667
bucolical1830
lane-born1834
bucolic1846
1834 W. S. Landor Citation & Exam. Shakespere in Wks. (1846) II. 279/2 Lane born boys..embezzling hazel-nuts in a woollen cap.
lane-galloper n. Hunting one who keeps to the lanes in preference to riding across country.
ΚΠ
1826 Sporting Mag. 17 361 That when the select few have got well away with the hounds..they should be stopped, to enable tailers, lane-gallopers, and all the οι πολλοι of the field to come up.
lane-route n. a route laid out for ocean steamers.
ΚΠ
1893 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I Lane-route, or ocean-l. route, one of the routes prescribed for transatlantic steamers in Northern waters, being different for eastward- and westward-bound vessels, to avoid collisions.
1950 Ocean Passages for World (Admiralty, Hydrographic Dept.) (ed. 2) B. i. ii. 41/1 The large number of steam vessels crossing the Atlantic..has necessitated the adoption of clearly defined separate routes to be followed by outward and homeward bound ships... These are known as the North Atlantic Lane Routes.
1950 Ocean Passages for World (Admiralty, Hydrographic Dept.) (ed. 2) B. i. ii. 41/1 Masters of all ships..who do not..make use of the ‘lane routes’, should make themselves acquainted with them, for their own safety.
Draft additions February 2005
Basketball. With the. = free-throw lane n. at free throw n. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1902 Bucks County (Pa.) Gaz. 30 Jan. 4/2 The players must remain outside of the lane until the ball has either entered or missed the goal.
1970 P. Axthelm City Game iv. 48 Bradley shoves the ball to Frazier, who is breaking down the lane at top speed for the lay-up.
2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 24 Jan. iii. 7/3 He forgot the cramps in his calves, drove to the basket and hit a 5-foot leaner in the lane with 1:11 left.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
Lanen.2
/leɪn/, U.S. /leɪn/ Lane's Prince Albert n. a large, green cooking apple of a variety introduced by Lane in 1857.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > apple > [noun] > cooking-apple > types of
codlingc1390
rambour1600
codling apple1654
biffin1794
Keswick codlin1814
Wellington1821
Lord Derby1862
Lane's Prince Albert1875
Bramley('s) seedling1900
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > cooking apple > types of
codlingc1390
rambour1600
codling apple1654
stubbard1736
biffin1794
Spitzenberg1795
Keswick codlin1814
Wellington1821
Wellington apple1824
Rome beauty1846
Lord Derby1862
Lane's Prince Albert1875
Bramley('s) seedling1900
Newton Wonder1932
1875 Florist & Pomologist 233 Lane's Prince Albert..is remarkable both for its excellent quality as a culinary apple and for its prodigious bearing qualities.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 530/1 For storing, the cooking sorts favoured now are..Bramley's Seedling, Golden Noble, and Lane's Prince Albert.
1933 A. D. Hall & M. B. Crane Apple xii. 200 Lane's Prince Albert..is a mid-Victorian introduction.
1962 Listener 27 Sept. 495/1 I am thinking of cooking apples like Bramleys and Lane's Prince Albert.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† lanev.
dialect. Obsolete. rare.
transitive. to lane off: To mark the course of (intended roads); to mark the roads on (land).
ΚΠ
1772 Welton Inclos. Act 13 After the same [roads] shall be laned-off.
1773 Act dividing & inclosing Fields Harpham, E. Riding 15 At all times after the same [lands] shall be laned off.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
<
n.1971
n.21875v.1772- office equipment
- office expenses
- office for baptism
- office for the dead
- office for the visitation of the sick
- office found
- office furniture
- office girl
- office giver
- office hours
- office hymn
- office job
- office junior
- office keeper
- office lady
- office man
- office manager
- office name
- office of detail
- office of fair trading
- office of her majesty's papers
- office of his majesty's papers
- office of kindness
- office of mover
- office of perpetuity