parade groundn.
/pəˈreɪd ˌɡraʊnd/, U.S. /pəˈreɪd ˌɡraʊnd/ Originally U.S.
1. A place where troops parade. Cf. parade n.1 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > ceremonial > [noun] > parade > parade-ground
parade1704
place d'armes1708
parade ground1724
square1915
parade square1945
1724 in J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 200 If the enemy get within the parade ground.
1815 Trans. Lit. & Philos. Soc. N.Y. 1 284 The parade-ground of the fort was said to have settled..below its former level.
1846 T. L. McKenney Mem. I. v. 103 The level of the ground, and its freedom from undergrowth, were such as to give it the appearance of a parade ground.
1891 Cent. Mag. Mar. 715 The rats were so numerous that they were common sights on the parade-ground.
1933 H. H. Symonds Walking in Lake District ii. 44 Before reaching the camp you pass..the ‘parade ground’, a large square of cleared ground.
1977 D. Beaty Excellency xx. 221 The Major led the way outside... The parade ground..was floodlit.
1991 M. Helprin Soldier of Great War iv. 290 By four they had assembled on the parade ground, under full packs, their rifles on their shoulders.
2. figurative and in extended use.
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1863 ‘G. Hamilton’ Gala-days 174 Besides abundance of food and parade ground, these happy fowls have a very agreeable prospect.
1867 A. D. Whitney Leslie Goldthwaite vi. 129 Clothes-lines like a parade-ground of telegraphs.
1937 ‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! i. iv. 74 The precocious bass, favoured on public-school parade-grounds.
1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin iv. 25 The parade ground of Europe has always been that vast area..that stretches eastward from the Elbe.
1993 C. Woods Recovery 30 Pigeons wheel across the parade ground of sky.
Compounds
General attributive, as parade-ground bearing, parade ground gate, parade ground major, parade ground manner, parade ground voice, etc.
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1892 Harper's Mag. Dec. 137 Both dismounted at the parade-ground gate.
1918 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 20 Dec. 245/1 He..[has] a particularly keen ‘derry’ on the parade-ground N.C.O.
1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Sept. 693/4 The preposterous chief constable is of no use at all, and his parade-ground manners make a suitable contrast to Colonel Gethryn's cool and gentlemanly efficiency.
1937 J. R. Firth Tongues of Men 41 There is a well-known Prussian parade-ground type of voice.
1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) ii. 28 He expected the boys to have a parade-ground bearing.
a1963 S. Plath Crossing Water (1971) 23 Pawing like paradeground horses.
1976 R. Condon Whisper of Axe i. xxi. 130 A spit-and-polish, parade-ground major.
1991 A. Kemp SAS at War (BNC) 11 Bennett..had volunteered for anything that was going just to get away from the parade-ground atmosphere of the Grenadier Guards.
2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) xxi. 263 At the end of it, I barked at him, in my best parade-ground voice: ‘Kishan Sing! What do you think of this kahani?’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1724