| 单词 | to do a dunkirk |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto do a Dunkirk Phrases to do a Dunkirk. a. To evacuate armed forces in manner similar to the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 (see Dunkirk evacuation n. at Compounds 2). ΚΠ 1941 Newcastle (New S. Wales) Sun 28 Apr. 4/3 Napoleon was just as much master of Europe as Hitler is to-day, but ultimately after the disaster of Corunna, when the British had to do a ‘Dunkirk’, Wellington got a toe hold in the peninsula north of Lisbon. 1949 D. J. L. Fitzgerald Hist. Irish Guards in Second World War v. 187 They planned to fall back on Cape Bon and there to ‘do a Dunkirk’. 1986 A. M. Sperber Murrow (1998) 349 He urged that..the U.S. Navy do a Dunkirk: Line up everybody at the narrow waist of Korea, get out the ships, and take them home. b. In extended use: to retreat, back away, or be forced to withdraw, esp. in order to avoid disaster. ΚΠ 1942 News (Frederick, Maryland) 21 Mar. 10/6 A repetition of the name brought another application of the pitchfork after which Stull wisely did a Dunkirk. 1979 Commerc. Motor 5 Jan. 27/1 Having ‘done a Dunkirk’, the corporation will nevertheless exploit the European transport industry on sound commercial lines whenever the opportunity occurs. 1998 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 19 Apr. (Motoring section) 2 By 1957, the Brits were doing a Dunkirk in Australia as Holden's arrival reduced the Empire brands to just 12 per cent of registrations. < as lemmas |
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