pickupn.adj.
/ˈpɪkʌp/, U.S. /ˈpɪkˌəp/ A. n.
I. The action or an act of picking up something or someone.
1. British slang. Robbery, theft. Cf. pickup man n. 1.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > [noun]
theft688
stalec950
stealc1200
stoutha1300
stealing13..
stealtha1325
lifting1362
briberya1387
stoutheriec1440
larcenya1475
larcerya1500
conveyancea1529
thieving1530
bribing1533
larcinc1535
embezzling1540
embezzlement1548
thiefdom?1549
theftdom1566
bribering1567
milling1567
thievery1568
larcinry1634
panyarring1703
abduction1766
smugging1825
pickup1846
lurking1851
make1860
tea-leafing1899
snitching1933
lapping1950
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 78 They are all downey coves here, and all the hangers on are up on the pickup and plantly.
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxiii. 240 He had been persuaded to try his hand at ‘the pick up’ (stealing from unattended motor cars).
1962 Gross's Criminal Investig. (ed. 5) viii. 206 At the pick-up, suitcase stealing.
2. U.S. colloquial. A meal or snack improvised from leftovers. Cf. sense B. 1.
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the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > main meal or dinner
mealeOE
dinnerc1325
dinea1425
Christmas dinner1581
Sunday dinner1602
corporation dinner1732
Russian dinner1805
boiled dinner1823
pickup1848
Robin Dinner1877
course-dinner1895
shore dinner1895
din-din1905
gala dinner1934
TV dinner1952
working dinner1956
steak dinnera1964
1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms A pick-up, or a pick-up dinner, is a dinner made up of such fragments of cold meats as remain from former meals. The word is common in the Northern States.
1889 R. T. Cooke Steadfast 275 The deacon's gone over to New Haven to-day, so you and me can have a pick-up.
1948 Chicago Tribune 11 July (Grafic Mag.) 18/1 The only pick-ups I like are out of the icebox around midnight. Scram!
3. Sport. The picking up of the ball from the ground; an instance of this. In later use also: (Rugby Union) the retrieval of the ball from a scrum.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > fielding > actions
overthrow1856
catch1858
pickup1872
peg1906
shoestring catch1926
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > [noun] > pick-up of ball
pickup1872
1872 N.Y. Herald 10 Oct. 5/4 Anson making a beautiful pick-up and throw to first of Pearce's short hit ball.
1886 Daily News 27 July 3/2 [A cricketer] conspicuous for the quickness of his pick-up and the accuracy of his return.
1915 St. Nicholas Mag. Sept. 1015/1 Veach drove a sharp grounder at Lajoie, who made a beautiful pick-up, and shot the ball to second [base].
1976 Wymondham & Attleborough Express 17 Dec. 22/6 Scrum half Davis dummied the pick up from a scrum and drew away the cover.
1983 B. Willis & A. Lee Captain's Diary vii. 120 My follow-through took me in approximately the right direction, and my pick-up was clean, the throw at the striker's end accurate.
2004 Irish Times (Nexis) 12 Jan. 59 Little landmarks, like Lar Foley being sent off in 1961 or Snitchy Ferguson being penalised for an illegal pick-up in the same game.
4. The collection of unretrieved game after a shooting party. Also: the quantity of game so collected.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > thing hunted or game > [noun] > bag or collection of game
quarryc1400
emprisec1450
bag1486
pot-hunting1843
bag-making1870
pickup1897
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 443/1 Too large a ‘pick up’ means that the work was not properly done on the day itself.
1939 Country Life 11 Feb. 153/1 I wish all hosts would provide themselves with those little cards that tell you the total bag together with the pick-up and the names of the guns.
1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16 Dec. 16/2 At the end of the pick-up a smile at last creased the face of keeper Bunny Spicer for the total bag was 253 pheasants, a record!
5.
a. Collection of a passenger, goods, etc., for carriage or transport; an instance of this.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > [noun] > collection and
pickup1898
1898 J. B. Wollocombe From Morn till Eve ii. 15 Each driver was anxious to get the first chance of pick-ups on the road.
1938 W. L. G. Cowan Loud Rep. iii. 220 We usually kip in the afternoon and push on at night. There's a better chance of a pick-up.
1943 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 47 72 Since short hauls seem to offer the best field for cargo glider operation, a similar method of pick-up becomes most attractive.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 11 Dec. 4/3 Ankeny, Iowa, saved $9,000 by opening dump sites to the public for two weekend clean-ups a year and abolished curbside pickups.
1993 This Mag. Aug. 22 The department of income assistance will increase the number of cheque pickups to include ‘a significant portion of the caseload, with the exception of blind and disabled clients’.
2001 Pop. Sci. Feb. 67/3 (caption) Either the information or other valuables are left unattended in a set location for prearranged pickup.
b. colloquial (originally U.S.). An act of apprehending or arresting someone (see also quot. 1908).
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society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [noun]
attachmenta1325
arresting1424
arrest1440
arrestment1474
restc1500
attach1508
attaching1515
deprehension1527
prehension1534
apprehending1563
apprehension1577
cog-shoulder1604
caption1609
deprension1654
nap1655
arrestation1792
body-snatching1840
shoulder-tap1842
collar1865
fall1883
nicking1883
cop1886
pinch1900
pickup1908
1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 18 Pickup, an arrest followed by no charge of crime.
1934 L. Berg Revel. Prison Doctor viii. 109 Rao..called his arrests ‘pickups’ and inferred that the charges were too trivial to be worthy of notice.
1999 Santa Fe New Mexican (Nexis) 4 Nov. 7 Two other arrests were made this afternoon and several additional pick-ups may be expected at any time.
c. An act of striking up a casual relationship with someone, esp. as a prelude to a sexual encounter.
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society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > womanizing or associating with loose women > opportunity of
pickup1930
1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement iv. 170 The big teashops..were always crowded with girls and always offered a chance of a pick-up.
1937 Life 12 Apr. 82/2 A 10¢ dance lasts only three minutes, [but] a patron..may..save money by trying his luck at pickups, in which case he will..concentrate on single girls.
1966 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 207 A prince of barroom and lunch-counter pickups, reigning over a demesne of motels, hotels, and back bedrooms.
1988 B. Cant & S. Hemmings Radical Rec. (BNC) The first sexual casual pick-up I had was..in South Wales.
6.
a. The capacity of an engine for recovering speed; acceleration.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [noun] > acceleration
pickup1909
1909 Times 27 Apr. 4/1 The flexibility and ‘pick up’ of the engine were such that the merest novice could handle the car with ease.
1934 W. Nelson Seaplane Design vi. 53 The form of the underwater portion of the float must be such that water resistance does not hinder a quick pick-up to planing attitude.
1993 Event Summer 100 I played with the accelerator to test the pick up.
b. Athletics. The process of increasing speed, esp. at the beginning of a race; the capacity for or rate of such acceleration. (In quot. 1960: a training exercise to develop this.)
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > artificially increasing speed
pacing1895
pickup1960
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing on foot > [noun] > training or exercise
road running1908
wind sprint1948
fartlek1952
pickup1960
1960 J. K. Doherty Mod. Track & Field (ed. 2) vi. 222 Wind-sprints or pickups. There are many variations of these.
1961 Times 22 July 3/2 Radford had the best start in the 100 yards, but his pick-up could not compare with that of Budd.
1988 Athletics Weekly 30 Sept. 25/3 First out of the blocks it was again his pick-up which gave him that essential lead.
1994 Runner's World Feb. 37/1 Run the section that starts at the entrance to Fiesta Island and ends 2.75 miles later at De Anza Cove... Every quarter-mile is marked, if you want to do some pickups.
2004 Times (Nexis) 16 Aug. (Sport section) 27 The 100 metres semi-finalist at the Atlanta Olympics, found his sprint start and pick-up to be rusty.
7. Recovery, improvement; an increase in value, commercial activity, etc.
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the world > health and disease > healing > [noun] > restoration to health
recovery1517
restorative1528
restoration1638
recuperation1703
revification1712
resuscitation1721
re-establishment1753
recruital1754
recruitment1862
recuperance1887
pickupa1916
the world > health and disease > healing > recovery > [noun]
healingc1000
healc1175
coveringc1230
recovering1380
curinga1382
amendmenta1400
recoverancea1400
sanationc1440
refeting?a1450
mendingc1480
convalescence1490
recovery1533
amendsa1616
restoration1638
upsitting1647
convalescing1650
convalescency1651
reconvalescence1672
analepsis1749
invalescence1755
reformation1772
revalescence1823
pickupa1916
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [noun]
betteringeOE
amendmentc1230
bote of beam1330
meliorationa1400
upraisingc1400
reformation?a1425
amelioration?a1450
enrichinga1513
amendsa1547
gooding1567
betterment1594
meliorization1599
endearment1612
raisure1613
betterance1614
ascenta1616
ascension1617
enrichmenta1626
improvement1625
booty beam1642
meliorating1647
bonification1652
uplift1873
work1914
pickupa1916
upgrading1920
tone-up1943
stepping1958
upgradation1979
upgrade1980
a1916 H. James Ivory Tower (1917) i. iii. 69 ‘It's one of Mr. Betterman's [nurses] taking a joy-ride in honour of his recovery!’.. ‘His pick-up will be a sell,’ [Davey] ruefully added.
1922 H. Titus Timber xxxii. 279 During all those years there will be a steady pick-up in quality.
1961 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 Oct. 1 Farm machinery dealer Bob Houtz tilts back in a battered chair and tells of a sharp pickup in sales.
2004 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 5 June 38 Our weaker loonie and a pickup in the U.S. economy has aided the ailing manufacturing sector.
8. Reception of signals (sometimes spec. unwanted signals or interference) by electrical apparatus. Also: a received radio or television programme. Cf. Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > unwanted part of signal > types of
stray1901
atmospherics1905
static1905
pickup1925
ambient noise1926
background1927
ground noise1929
hum1929
Johnson noise1929
microphonic1929
thermal noise1930
parasitic1943
flicker noise1947
overhang1971
1925 Scribner's Mag. Oct. 90 (advt.) Low-loss doughnut coils..conquer ‘pick-up’ of unwanted stations.
1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. ix. 252 This requires that the amplifier be well shielded in order to prevent stray pick-up by the wiring from reducing this attenuation.
1948 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Jan. 2/2 It was a thirty-minute radio network program with pick-ups from scattered points in the United States and abroad.
1965 Wireless World Aug. 383/2 When ferrite aerials are close to the inverter transformers, inductive pick-up can result.
1992 In-Fisherman Feb. 52/1 Most Loran & GPS interference problems with LCD fish finders and other electronics are caused by electrical signal pick-up at the antenna.
9. Absorption of a fluid, heat, etc.; the acquisition by a surface of a coating or adhering particles. Also: the tendency or capacity for this.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > [noun] > quality of being absorbable > tendency to absorb
pickup1938
1938 World Petroleum Apr. 45/3 The flow through the main part of the furnace is in four parallel paths, each designed to have the same heat pick-up.
1955 F. Mondolfo & O. Zmeskal Engin. Metall. viii. 181 Pickup is the inclusion of foreign particles, especially scale, on the surface of the rolled product.
1955 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists 71 899/1 The pick-up of the medium-weight rayon-staple fabric to be dyed was 100%.
1977 Harrison Mayer Ltd. Catal. 67/1 The batts and props we supply are designed to have a low glaze pick up.
1989 A. C. Davies Sci. & Pract. Welding (ed. 9) I. ii. 107 The quantity of carbon introduced in arc welding (pick-up) is too small to produce brittle welds.
10. Nuclear Physics. A nuclear reaction in which an incident particle such as a proton or deuteron captures one or more nucleons from a target atomic nucleus. Usually attributive, esp. in pick-up reaction.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > [noun] > capture of nucleon
pickup1950
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > [adjective] > relating to capture
pickup1975
1950 Physical Rev. 77 470 It is proposed that the fast deuterons observed among the products of high energy nuclear reactions are to be understood in terms of a ‘pick-up’ or sudden rearrangement process.
1975 Nature 6 Mar. 19/3 The spectroscopic factors for stripping and pickup reactions on the same nucleus can be related to each other.
1995 Nucl. Physics A. 588 161 c Nuclear structure of 21Mg, 17Ne, 13O, 11N and 9C have been investigated by the three-neutron pick-up reaction (3He, 6He).
II. That which is or can be picked up.† 11. slang. An amount of money that is or can be acquired, as by begging or betting. Obsolete.
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1848 A. Trollope Kellys & O'Kellys III. xi. 269 The pick~up on the Derby is about four thousand.
1853 Househ. Words 20 Aug. 593/2 Jist as you're a doin' the basin, and the browns is a droppin' into the 'at, up comes a Peeler. Then it's ‘Move on!’ You must go..and lose per'aps a pick-up as 'u'd keep you for a week.
12. A person met casually, esp. one with whom a person aims to establish a sexual relationship; a prostitute or streetwalker; (sometimes) any person viewed as a potential partner in a relationship.
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the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > state of being acquainted > acquaintance > chance acquaintance
pickup1871
lumber1966
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > unchaste behaviour of woman > unchaste or loose woman
queanOE
whorec1175
malkinc1275
wenchelc1300
ribalda1350
strumpeta1350
wench1362
filtha1375
parnelc1390
sinner14..
callet1415
slut?c1425
tickle-tailc1430
harlot?a1475
mignote1489
kittock?a1500
mulea1513
trulla1516
trully?1515
danta1529
miswoman1528
stewed whore1532
Tib1533
unchaghe1534
flag1535
Katy1535
jillet1541
yaud1545
housewife1546
trinkletc1550
whippet1550
Canace1551
filthy1553
Jezebel1558
kittyc1560
loonc1560
laced mutton1563
nymph1563
limmer1566
tomboy1566
Marian1567
mort1567
cockatrice1568
franion1571
blowze1573
rannell1573
rig1575
Kita1577
poplet1577
light-skirts1578
pucelle1578
harlotry1584
light o' lovea1586
driggle-draggle1588
wagtail1592
tub-tail1595
flirt-gill1597
minx1598
hilding1599
short-heels1599
bona-roba1600
flirt1600
Hiren1600
light-heels1602
roba1602
baggage1603
cousin1604
fricatrice1607
rumbelow1611
amorosa1615
jaya1616
open-taila1618
succubus1622
snaphancea1625
flap1631
buttered bun1638
puffkin1639
vizard1652
fallen woman1659
tomrigg1662
cunt1663
quaedama1670
jilt1672
crack1677
grass-girl1691
sporting girl1694
sportswoman1705
mobbed hood1707
brim1736
trollop1742
trub1746
demi-rep1749
gillyflower1757
lady of easy virtue1766
mot1773
chicken1782
gammerstang1788
buer1807
scarlet woman1816
blowen1819
fie-fie1820
shickster?1834
streel1842
charver1846
trolly1854
bad girl1855
amateur1862
anonyma1862
demi-virgin1864
pickup1871
chippy1885
wish-wife1886
tart1887
tartleta1890
flossy1893
fly girl1893
demi-mondaine1894
floozy1899
slattern1899
scrub1900
demi-vierge1908
cake1909
coozie1912
muff1914
tarty1918
yes-girl1920
radge1923
bike1945
puta1948
messer1951
cooze1955
jamette1965
skeezer1986
slutbag1987
chickenhead1988
ho1988
1871 L. H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 46 Pick-up,..a street-walker, of the less disreputable sort.
1890 ‘W. A. Wallace’ Only a Sister 311 She..will be a grand pick-up for somebody when he goes.
1935 G. Greene Eng. made Me iv. 169 She might be meeting her lover and not a pick-up in Gothenburg.
1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax iv. 52 And what about you, Clarissa? Who's your latest pickup?
1977 New Yorker 22 Aug. 66/3 Paolo..accedes with wearied eyelids to the blandishments of yet another of his pickups.
1992 L. Gordon Shared Lives v. 98 To Yacov, I was not recognizably a ‘nice girl’, but a pick-up.
13. A piece of gold picked by hand; a nugget. rare.
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > native elements and alloys > [noun] > native gold > lump of
nugget1851
pickup1905
1905 R. E. Beach Pardners 25 By Christmas we had a streak uncovered that was all gold. She was coarse, and we averaged six ounces a day in pick-ups.
14. U.S. colloquial. Something obtained or secured when on offer, esp. a bargain. Now rare.
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1908 Perry (Iowa) Daily Chief 27 Oct. (advt.) For sale or trade for South Texas land—A 240 acre..farm... This is a pick up at $100.00 per acre.
1912 Atlanta Constit. 17 Nov. a9/1 (advt.) Eight acres of land immediately at East Lake Junction, which we consider a genuine pick-up for $4,500.
1930 Publishers' Weekly 19 Apr. 2111 Should traveler's discounts be allowed on pickups?
1990 Premiere July 33/1 Bread-and-butter pickups, such as The Legend of Frenchie King and Tiffany Jones,..kept company ledgers in the black.
15. Music (originally Jazz). A series of introductory notes leading to the opening of a tune or portion of a tune.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > section of piece of music > [noun] > introduction or opening
overtc1450
preamble1611
intrada1664
flourish1706
entry1728
alap1834
introduction1880
intro1923
pickup1928
1928 Rhythm June 41/1 The rhythmic glissando is particularly effective as a ‘pick up’ at the end of a break performed by one of the other instruments.
1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz iii. 65 After a short passage of one or two bars, as a ‘pick up’, the ensemble will then take the last chorus and coda.
1949 L. Feather Inside Be-bop 62 The last phrase starts with a three-beat pickup into an on-the-beat quarter note on the first beat of bar 7.
1993 Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 5 Oct. The fireworks came later, including a hair-raising two-bar pickup in double time on Max.
2001 R. Stinton J.S. Bach's Great 18 Organ Chorales iv. 86 The peal part..begins at the pickup to measure 34.
16. Film (originally U.S.). A film, or film footage, which is made by one company and acquired (for distribution, etc.) by another.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > other types
romantic comedy1748
epic1785
pre-release1871
foreign film1899
frivol1903
dramedy1905
film loop1906
first run1910
detective film1911
colour film1912
news film1912
topical1912
cinemicrograph1913
scenic1913
sport1913
newsreel1914
serial1914
sex comedy1915
war picture1915
telefilm1919
comic1920
true crime1923
art house1925
quickie1926
turkey1927
two-reeler1928
smellie1929
disaster film1930
musical1930
feelie1931
sticky1934
action comedy1936
quota quickie1936
re-release1936
screwball comedy1937
telemovie1937
pickup1939
video film1939
actioner1940
space opera1941
telepic1944
biopic1947
kinescope1949
TV movie1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
deepie1953
misterioso1953
film noir1956
policier1956
psychodrama1956
free film1958
prequel1958
co-production1959
glossy1960
sexploiter1960
sci-fier1961
tie-in1962
chanchada1963
romcom1963
wuxia1963
chick flick1964
showreel1964
mockumentary1965
sword-and-sandal1965
schlockbuster1966
mondo1967
peplum1968
thriller1968
whydunit1968
schlocker1969
buddy-buddy movie1972
buddy-buddy film1974
buddy film1974
science-fictioner1974
screwball1974
buddy movie1975
slasher movie1975
swashbuckler1975
filmi1976
triptych1976
autobiopic1977
Britcom1977
kidflick1977
noir1977
bodice-ripper1979
chopsocky1981
date movie1983
kaiju eiga1984
screener1986
neo-noir1987
indie1990
bromance2001
hack-and-slash2002
mumblecore2005
dark fantasy2007
hack-and-slay2007
gorefest2012
kidult-
1939 Fortune Nov. 94/2 C.B.S. and N.B.C. cut down on their European pickups as the struggle progressed.
1978 N.Y. Times 26 June c18/2 Both movies are pickups—independently made and financed films that have been picked up for distribution by a major studio.
1985 Standard 3 Jan. 21/2 The Lean film originated in Britain with our own Thorn–EMI and is what's called in America a ‘pick-up’.
2000 Hollywood Reporter (Nexis) 15 Sept. I want to be able to make the movies I want to make... Aurum is more a distributor, buying rights and third-party pick-ups.
III. That which picks up something or someone.† 17. A train which collects and leaves wagons at goods yards along a stretch of line. Cf. Compounds 1a. Obsolete.
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society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > train picking up passenger or goods
pickup1852
1852 Times 21 Oct. 5/6 The guard of the ‘pick up’..hastened to the station and announced that the tidal train was coming.
a1864 R. S. Surtees Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds (1911) xxi. 82 The first and second classes only stopped on demand, while the pick-ups and parlies alone pulled up voluntarily.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) The last train at night which runs..from Sheffield to New Holland, is called the Pick up.
1898 Tit-Bits 18 June 220/3 Those [lights] of slow goods trains and ‘pick-ups’ are distinguished by a single green light..placed over the left-hand buffer.
18. = pick-me-up n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [noun] > fortifying or reviving
hair of the dog that bit you1546
eye-opener1818
bracer1829
livener1870
corpse reviver1871
reviver1876
screw1877
fearnought1880
pickup1881
stiffener1928
warmer-upper1960
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [noun] > restorative > drink
pick-me-up1867
screw1877
pickup1881
fortifier1894
1881 T. Hardy Laodicean III. v. iii. 36 Every sip you took of your pick-up as you sat there showed me something was wrong.
1921 D. Marquis Old Soak 10 I took mine straight for the most part, except when I needed some special kind of a pick-up in the morning.
1995 Baltimore Sun (Nexis) 30 Aug. 6 d Women who feel their sex drives need a midlife pickup should see a health provider for an overall physical exam.
19. A device for picking up electric current, esp. to supply power to a tram or other electric vehicle.
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Oct. 6/2 The experiments for Mr. Edison's new electric tramcar were conducted at his laboratory at West Orange, New Jersey... Its chief feature is the ‘pickups’ which take the current from one line of rails.
1972 M. Glenny tr. A. Solzhenitsyn August 1914 xlii. 419 Trams passed, clanging, their pick-ups hissing along the wires.
1986 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 28 Oct. The STA has fitted the Glenelg trams with pantograph electrical pick-ups.
20. A device that produces an electrical signal in response to some other kind of signal or charge. Cf. Compounds 2.
a.
(a) The part of a gramophone, record deck, etc., carrying the stylus or needle (cf. pickup arm n. at Compounds 3); (also) the corresponding part of a CD or DVD player that uses a laser beam to track the disc.
ΚΠ
1926 Glasgow Herald 5 Oct. 5 An electrical device known as a magnetic ‘pick-up’ is guided over the record, converting the mechanical vibrations imparted to the needle into electrical vibrations.
1959 New Scientist 31 July 517/2 The whole pick-up must be able to do the manœuvres required of it without giving rise to excessive pressures which would damage the record.
1976 ‘J. Fraser’ Who steals my Name? ix. 107 The needle on the pick-up of his record player..had a beard on it... His room was filthy.
1991 Canberra Times 31 Jan. 7/6 (advt.) Features 20-selection random programming, 6 digit LED record level meters, 3-beam laser pick-up for improved tracking accuracy.
2003 J. Dawson & S. Propes 45 RPM ii. 10 The pickups..available at the time were so heavy they just cut through the material after several plays.
(b) A device that produces an electrical signal corresponding to the amplitude, frequency, or acceleration of a vibration; spec. such a device attached to or forming part of a musical instrument which picks up sound vibrations to be amplified electrically.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > electronic instruments > [noun] > device producing specific signal
pickup1950
1950 P. G. Andres Surv. Mod. Electronics viii. 346 Electronic comparator gauges use a pickup that operates on the principle of displacing an armature..to generate a corresponding voltage.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) VIII. 667/1 A vibration pickup can be used to generate an electrical signal directly from the vibration of a string; this is the case in the electric guitar and electric piano.
1972 M. P. Blake in M. P. Blake & W. S. Mitchell Vibration & Acoustic Measurem. Handbk. xx. 422 A growing tendency among those who measure vibration favors the acceleration pickup.
2002 Total Guitar Mar. 11/2 Mark and his guitar built the axe of his dreams from the ground up. ‘It's basically a Strat shape with two Hot Rails pickups in the neck and bridge.’
b. A sensor, a transducer.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > electronic instruments > [noun] > sensor or transducer
transducer1924
pickup1943
sensor1947
1943 D. G. Fink Television Standards & Pract. iv. 91 Specifications to be placed on the spectral response of each of the three color-sensitive elements of the pickup.
1957 R. A. Heinlein Door into Summer v. 79 I suppose it was a stethoscope he used although it looked like a miniaturized hearing aid... The pick-up he pushed against me was as cold and hard as ever.
1978 J. Gores Gone, no Forwarding (1979) iii. 24 He was at the corner where he knew the concealed pickup was.
1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 939/1 Miniature magnetic ‘pick-up’ transducers suitable for use in a very wide range of sensing applications.
21. Originally U.S. A pickup truck.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor lorry, truck, or van > [noun] > small truck or van
light truck1906
pickup truck1919
pickup1929
1929 Athens (Ohio) Messenger 9 Jan. 13/4 (advt.) Ford 1925 roadster $50. Two Fords 1926 pickups $125 and $50.
1973 A. Ross Dunfermline Affair 45 He must be going out in the pick-up.
1994 G. Paulsen Winterdance ii. 55 My wife and I had driven up to Canada in an old borrowed pickup with a camper shell.
2006 Oxford American Spring 36/3 I stopped by a dealership..and happened to get caught by a salesman wandering the rows of baby pickups.
22. Angling. On a fixed-spool reel: a semicircular loop of metal which guides the line back on to the spool as it is reeled in.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > reel > [noun] > attachments
check1867
free spool1906
star drag1936
pickup1951
1951 A. Wanless Fixed Spool Angling i. 18 Some of the best reels are to be had with a mechanical or finger pick-up, as the angler prefers.
1960 C. Willock Anglers' Encycl. 132/1 Practically all pick-ups these days are of the ‘full bail’ type in which the pick-up is made in one continuous loop of steel.
1987 Coarse Fishing Mar. 40/1 After the bait touched bottom I let out a few feet of line then engaged the pick-up.
IV. Other uses.
23. Printing. Type which has already been composed, and which is taken and used to create new copy without the need for further typesetting. Now rare.
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1894 Amer. Dict. Printing & Bookmaking 436/2 Pick-up, a line or lines which a compositor can take from a dead form or from a standing-galley and use in one of his takes without freshly composing the matter. Pick-ups are very frequent on some of the daily newspapers.
1970 R. K. Kent Lang. Journalism 102 Pickup,..type matter already set that is to be incorporated with fresh material.
24. colloquial. An informal game played between impromptu teams. Cf. sense B. 2. Now rare.
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society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > types of
all comersc1450
after-gamea1500
fore-game1594
revenge1616
plate1639
set-to1743
return match1753
bye1754
scrub-race1791
anybody's game (also race, match)1826
return1834
barney1843
bonspiel1858
handicap1861
pennant1865
home-and-home1868
benefit match1871
run-off1873
international1877
American tournament1878
Grand Prix1879
single1884
friendly1885
all-comers1889
pair1890
championship1893
round robin1894
replay1895
Olympiad1896
junior varsity1902
lightning tournament1903
rematch1903
road trip1903
pickup1905
freestyle1906
marathon1908
test1908
Derby1909
scrimmage1910
eliminator1911
twosome1911
triala1914
quadrangular1916
slug-fest1916
varsity match1921
needle contest1922
curtain jerker1923
needle match1923
open1926
needle fight1927
knock-out1928
shirt1930
masters1933
pro-amateur1934
tune-up1934
World Cup1934
pro-am1937
state1941
sizzler1942
runathon1943
mismatch1954
run-out1955
match-up1959
squeaker1961
triple-header1961
Super Bowl1967
invitational1968
needle game1970
major1976
slobberknocker1986
1905 Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 3/1 If one accidentally pulled a ball in a school pick-up.
1917 A. Waugh Loom of Youth i. ii. 31 Even a desultory Pick-Up woke into excitement when the shrill, piping voice of a full-back came in with, ‘The Bull's coming.’
B. adj. (chiefly attributive). colloquial. That has been picked up or put together without preparation or premeditation; impromptu; improvised.
1. Originally and chiefly U.S. Applied to a meal.
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1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms A pick-up, or a pick-up dinner, is a dinner made up of such fragments of cold meats as remain from former meals. The word is common in the Northern States.
1878 H. B. Stowe Poganuc People xxi. 231 We shall just have a pick-up dinner.
1897 W. D. Howells Albany Depôt i. 16 I shan't have the mortification of sitting down to a pick-up meal with Amy Campbell the first time she has visited us.
1928 Garden & Home Builder Jan. 472/2 The hurried breakfast, the pickup Sunday night supper.
1997 C. Shields Larry's Party xii. 233 Eating pick-up meals at the Calypso Cafe on Marion Street.
2. Sport. With reference to games, teams, etc. Cf. sense A. 24.
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the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [adjective] > assembling (of people or animals) > assembled > for a particular occasion
pickup1898
1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) ii. 41 We had several pick-up matches.
1909 Q. Rev. Oct. 618 The rest of the administration was arranged on the principle which governs ‘pick-up’ sides in a school-match.
1972 J. Mosedale Football iv. 47 He suffered a leg injury in a pick-up basketball game.
1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 10 f/3 Mickey Solomone rode two long-shot winners on ‘pickup mounts’.
2001 B. Weeks Curling for Dummies vi. 74 Just as you might have a captain pick the team in a pickup baseball game, the skip usually asks other players to join a rink.
3. Originally U.S. With reference to groups of musicians, performers, etc.
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1914 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily News 15 June 6/5 The other bands..are compelled to engage most any kind of musicians... From such pick up bands it is folly to expect any results whatever.
1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn iv. iii. 221 He..made records with who knows how many pick-up bands.
1962 Sunday Times 10 June (Colour Suppl.) 3 His strength is as the lead of pick-up groups of first-rate players.
1992 Chicago Feb. 29/1 Eisen and a pick-up company of four men perform three dance works.
2008 C. Baade in N. T. Rustin & S. Tucker Big Ears 115 Benson's band, which was almost uniquely cohesive among wartime British bands, was supplanted by what was essentially a pickup band.
Compounds
C1. attributive.
a. Designating a train which collects and leaves wagons at goods yards along a stretch of line.
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1847 Times 14 July 6/4 A pick-up train, standing on the line at the foot of the incline near New-cross,..was signalled by the Croydon up-train to get out of the way.
1853 Times 14 Oct. 9 The ‘pick-up’ goods train had arrived at 11 or 12 minutes after 4.
1955 Econ. Devel. Nigeria ii. xvi. 467 Complete trains are used for carriage of livestock and coal. On each section there is also a mixed or pick-up train for local traffic.
1997 Bristol Evening Post (Nexis) 30 Aug. 29 In Spring 1942..my driver Bill Weston..and I were firing a Swindon pick up goods train, having put off and picked up wagons at Box.
b. gen. In the sense ‘that picks up (goods, passengers, etc.)’ or ‘used in picking up’.
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1889 G. Findlay Working & Managem. Eng. Railway 106 The tenders attached to the engines have a ‘pick up’ apparatus, provided with a scoop, which can be lowered into the trough while the train is passing over it at full speed, and the trucks are filled with water in a few seconds.
1900 Daily News 15 Sept. 6/4 The Goring ‘pick-up’ water-troughs supplied the tender with a fleeting drink.
1944 Science 5 May 368/2 His development of a successful and practical ‘on the wing’ air mail and glider pick-up apparatus.
1980 Frederick (Maryland) Post 9 Feb. b7/1 (advt.) No. 38 harvester w[ith]/2 row 38 in. corn head, 8 ft. cutter bar and pickup attachment.
c. Designating a location where goods, passengers, etc., may be picked up. Cf. sense A. 5a.
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1930 Times 9 Dec. 5/4 Stops would be made at halts and level crossings, so as to compete as nearly as possible with the frequent pick-up points of the road omnibus.
1950 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 14 Aug. 4/4 The company will furnish free bus transportation to carry workers from designated pick-up locations in Sheboygan to the bean fields and back.
1971 P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin xiv. 275 They rested beside..a triangle of flat stony ground... This was the pick-up area Willie had arranged.
1995 K. Toolis Rebel Hearts (1996) ii. 28 As their car neared the pick-up point, the IRA men drove into an SAS ambush.
C2. attributive in the sense ‘used to detect or receive a signal, current, etc.’, as pickup device. Cf. senses A. 8, A. 20.
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society > communication > broadcasting > equipment > [noun] > received
pickup device1923
footprint1971
1876 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright Telegraphy 274 The faulty section of the through wire is thrown out until the fault is removed. In its place is substituted the section cd of the ‘pick-up’ circuit.
1923 Wireless Weekly 13 June 610/3 When used as a transmitter or pick-up device.
1927 Warren (Pa.) Morning Mirror 27 Sept. 7/8 (advt.) The ‘Ultra’ Reproducer..and Radio pick-up units to play records with radio.
1948 Proc. Symp. Large-scale Digital Calculating Machinery 1947 23 Twenty-four sensing pins are pressed against the tape, those pins finding punched holes closing pick-up circuits of certain cascade relays.
1978 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context xiv. 218 Television pickup devices..incorporate the use of photocells.
1999 Motor Age (Nexis) 1 Mar. 40 With the pickup circuit disconnected from the distributor, the black lead showed no continuity to ground.
2002 Corporate Legal Times (Nexis) July 20 Olympus..was based on the 1977 invention of a pickup apparatus that CD and DVD players use to read discs.
C3.
pickup arm n. (in a gramophone, record deck, etc.) a movable arm carrying the stylus or needle at one end; cf. sense A. 20a(a).
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society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun] > record-playing equipment > pick-up arm
tone-arm1907
pickup arm1930
1930 Lincoln (Nebraska) Star 21 Sept. The phonograph has a new pickup, improved motor and new inertia weighted pickup arm.
1975 A. Price Our Man in Camelot Prol. 11 Finsterwald stopped abruptly, as though his pickup arm had been lifted off the record.
1991 Metalworking Production Sept. 81/1 For some 30 years SME has been manufacturing pick-up arms for record players.
pickup artist n. colloquial a person who is skilled at attracting sexual partners, or who pursues them assiduously; later also spec. (sometimes abbreviated PUA) a member of a group which shares or promotes pickup techniques, esp. online.Typically used of a man, and sometimes (esp. with reference to PUA groups) considered aggressive or predatory.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > from shops
shop thief1613
cloyer1659
tiler1659
shoplifter1661
shoplift1665
shop-pad1705
booster1912
heister1927
pickup artist1931
1931 K. Clugston Finished i. i. 33 Dwight. Your eyes trouble me. I'd like to kiss them. Virginia. My God! You do work fast... Dwight. If you're trying to insinuate that I'm a pick-up artist like Chippy...
1947 Taylor (Texas) Daily Press 23 Mar. 1/8 The heat's on the..pickup artists in Denver. Police Judge Joe Neff warned street romeos..that stiff penalties would be dealt out to mashers.
1970 E. Weber How to pick up Girls! 62 Don't come on with some ridiculous imitation of what you think the archtypical pick up artist would use.
2004 Observer (Nexis) 8 Feb. (Mag.) 10 Pick-up Artists (PUAs) are men who practise, study and fine-tune techniques of speed seduction.
2015 Leader-Post (Regina, Sask.) (Nexis) 25 July g2 Pickup Artist (PUA) culture has come to the attention of the mainstream. PUA cultures target women with methodical, manipulative ‘seduction’ practices popularized by a cottage industry of manuals and workshopping groups.
pickup baler n. a machine that picks up hay, etc., and bales it.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > baler
hay-press1829
baler1888
trusser1889
pickup baler1939
1939 Arlington Heights (Illinois) Herald 30 Nov. 10/4 Combines and pick-up balers were not in the minds of the legislators when the law was passed in 1874.
1951 Engineering 26 Jan. 92/1 Imports from the United Kingdom were to include 6,000 wheeled tractors..; imports from the United States..pick-up balers and combine harvesters.
2002 Buffalo News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 20 Jan. b4 Hay was being harvested with new pickup balers, but editorialists mourned the artfully crafted traditional hayricks.
pickup bar n. originally U.S. a bar frequented by people seeking potential sexual partners.
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1964 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 8 Nov. 67/1 The stories are all set in the slum-wasteland of waterfront Brooklyn, with occasional subway trips to the seamier pick-up bars off Times Square and the ‘gay’ bars farther uptown.
2002 Entertainm. Weekly 22 Feb. 51/3 He takes the kid out to a ritzy pickup bar.
pickup body n. a vehicle body of the type used on a pickup truck.
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1925 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 7 Nov. The displays also will include the new pick-up body, which is mounted on the rear of the Ford runabout.
2003 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 11 July g8 The SSR has addressed those problems with its roadster pickup body which has plenty of luggage capacity.
pickup camper n. originally and chiefly U.S. a type of camper van, mounted on a pickup truck.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > other vehicles according to specific use > [noun] > vehicle used as living accommodation
van1829
house wagon1833
living wagon1851
wagon1851
motor-van1898
motor caravan1909
van1922
trailer caravan1930
trailer1931
caravanette1934
mobile home1934
travel trailer1936
trailer home1940
static caravan1947
recreational vehicle1949
van1952
trailer house1954
caravette1958
camper1960
pickup camper1960
motor home1961
caravan1962
cab-over1964
RV1967
manufactured home1976
micro-mini1989
1960 Los Angeles Times 13 Mar. d29 (advt.) No vacation spot is too remote for the Turnpike Camper! The luxury line of pickup campers.
2003 Countryside & Small Stock Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 May 34 We moved out onto the property into an old eight-foot pickup camper that we tied down and added an eight-foot shed onto.
pickup joint n. colloquial (originally U.S.) a place (usually a bar or nightclub) frequented by people seeking potential sexual partners.
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1955 Mansfield (Ohio) News Jrnl. 7 Feb. [The bartender] went to the cops and reported that the husband was running a pick-up joint.
1985 Fortune 18 Feb. 65 Singles bars, rejecting their image as ‘meat racks’ or ‘pickup joints’, mostly insist that they are not singles bars after all.
2000 Ralph 7 July 148/3 Friday's is the Sunshine Coast's hottest night spot and one of the area's best pick-up joints.
pickup line n. originally U.S. a prepared (frequently clichéd) conversational gambit employed in the hope of striking up a flirtatious or sexual encounter; cf. chat-up line n. at chat-up adj.
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1979 N.Y. Times 15 Mar. b 3/5 He said that the line by Rosalind, ‘What is it o'clock?’ was not unlike a ‘pickup line in a bar’.
2002 Cairns (Queensland) Post (Nexis) 31 Aug. 4 Are your pick-up lines causing your potential partners to throw-up?
pickup merchant n. British colloquial (now rare) = pickup man n. 1.
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1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad i. 14 Lower down come the suit-case thieves, the pick-up merchants, small time smash-and-grabbers, [etc.].
pickup shot n. Film and Television a brief part of a scene, or piece of additional footage, that is shot after the main filming is over.
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1957 N. Johnson Let. 26 Mar. (1981) 150 I finished the picture yesterday except for a few pick-up shots one day next week.
2001 Premiere Feb. 106/2 I wrapped a day early. One of the last things I did was a pickup shot for the fish-market scene.
pickup truck n. originally U.S. a small truck or van with an open body, used for carrying light loads.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor lorry, truck, or van > [noun] > small truck or van
light truck1906
pickup truck1919
pickup1929
1919 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 22 June 3/7 (advt.) I have just taken off a set of Goodrich De Luxe Tires..and I am going to put them on the rear of one of our pick-up trucks.
1973 A. Ross Dunfermline Affair 48 There were still plenty of motor cars in the car park, but no small grey pick-up truck.
2006 Vanity Fair Nov. 314/1 ‘High-back’ vehicles with open rear beds like those of pickup trucks.
pickup tube n. Television a vacuum tube that produces an electrical signal corresponding to an optical image formed in or on it; a camera tube.
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1933 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 73 438/2 The development of the pick-up tube was pushed on, and the results..soon surpassed those of mechanical scanning.
1965 Wireless World Sept. 461/2 A small television camera which uses a solid-state image sensing panel in place of the conventional electron-beam pick-up tube.
2000 Proc. SPIE (Internat. Soc. Optical Engin.) 3977 522 An X-ray image on the fluorescent screen is focused on the photoconductive layer of the pickup tube and the photosensitive area of the CCD.
pickup van n. (a) South African a police van; (b) a light van used for transporting goods or people.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor lorry, truck, or van > [noun] > van > police van
pie wagon1904
paddy wagon1909
Black Maria1924
pickup van1941
meat wagon1949
squadrol1961
1941 Bantu World 25 Jan. 4 In Xhosa and Sutho it urged us to ‘come in our thousands and fight the Pass and Tax Laws, Pick-up vans, Colour Bar, Low wages and discriminating laws’.
1953 ‘P. Lanham’ & A. S. Mopeli-Paulus Blanket Boy's Moon i. vi. 50 ‘Police! Police! The pick-up van's coming.’ Even as he shouted the warning, the police arrived in their closed van with a squealing of brakes.
1956 Times 28 June 13/7 The defendant when driving an Austin ‘pick-up’ van, for which he held a farmers' ‘F’ licence, drove at [etc.].
1998 P. Lively Spiderweb (1999) iii. 39 She..saw his car elbowed aside by a green pick-up van which dashed down the lane from the main road.
2009 C. Peck Last Real Austins 77/1 Longbridge initially ordered 24 pickup van bodies on the K8 25cwt chassis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1846