walk-inadj.n.

1912 A. M. Chase Heart of Orphan 120 The walk-in districk nurse came every day to put a new bandige on Tony's knee and fix Mama what comfy she could.

1928 Daily Express 6 Oct. 11/2 A criminal of the type described by the police as the ‘walk-in-thief’, who, if he encounters anyone, slides gently from the house, with a plausible excuse.

1962 John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/3 A housebreaker by day is a walk-in man.

1978 D. Bloodworth Crosstalk x. 84 In March we got ourselves a walk-in defector from China.

1988 ‘R. Deacon’ Spyclopaedia 399 The ‘walk-in defector’ arrives unannounced, bringing information with him.

2003 R. D. Fricker & C. C. Fair Going to Mines v. 78 Each service reported a different experience with walk-in traffic and with the ability to convert these walk-ins to contracts.

1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 1 July They will be on duty for walk-in and other services from 10.00 a.m. to midnight daily..said the executive director of the hospital.

1979 United States 1980–1 (Penguin Travel Guides) 45 In larger cities, many hospitals have walk-in clinics designed to serve people who..have no place to go for immediate medical attention.

2000 Times 8 June ii. 11/1 Patients can follow up their online consultation through the company's walk-in clinics and a telephone advice line, she says.

1921 N.Y. Times 10 Apr. viii. 16/8 (advt.) Clermont..new one-family houses..detached, frame, 6 rooms, bath, storage attic, walk-in closets.

1929 Centralia (Washington) Daily Chron. 20 Apr. 7/1 (advt.) Walk-in refrigerator. Built 1 year. Suitable for restaurant or small shop.

1943 Pioneering in Food Preservation (New Dominion Ser. No. 37) A small walk-in refrigeration plant for curing meat.

1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. 118/1 (advt.) Makers of walk-in incubators.

1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 ii. 36 Oedipa skipped into the bathroom, which happened also to have a walk-in closet.

1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 17/1 (advt.) Large fitted kitchen, walk-in larder.

1982 A. Mather Impetuous Masquerade vii. 105 A matching chest and fitted walk-in closets.

2003 N. Slater Toast 217 I weighed the flour and cut up the margarine I found in the walk-in fridge into chunks the size of dice.

1943 Helena (Montana) Independent 18 Feb. 6/5 A drive-in sandwich stand that is changing its name to a walk-in stand.

1953 Kingsport (Tennessee) Times 19 Aug. 13/3 (heading) Walk-in movies.

1968 Amer. Speech 43 157 He recognized..a desire for something more than the ubiquitous..drive-in and directed me to a walk-in restaurant a few blocks away.

1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 3 Nov. 2/1 We can't even go to a walk-in movie because he falls asleep and snores so loud it is embarrassing. So we usually go to drive-ins.

2005 Birmingham (Alabama) News (Nexis) 17 May 1 a Most drive-ins are located outside city limits, where..the distance from the nearest walk-in movie makes them competitive.

1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 160 Back left of the bar was a row of walk-in walk-out bedrooms surrounded by a veranda.

1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 75 A narrow walk-in kitchen was off the living room through a doorway in the short wall opposite the window.

2003 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 2 Apr. 23 There's a master bedroom with walk-in bathroom.

1924 J. K. Van Rensselaer & F. F. Van de Water Social Ladder 274 The family gave a dance for its debutante daughter and surrounded the affair with a particularly intricate system of defenses to keep out the ‘Walk-ins’.

1945 Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel 14 July 1/2 1245 persons registered [to donate blood] and 155 came in as ‘walk ins’.

1971 Univ. Chicago Law Rev. 38 288 The employer might rely exclusively on walk-ins or word-of-mouth recruitment.

1995 Nunatsiaq (Canada) News 6 Jan. 19/2 (advt.) Walkins: if you are sick and need to see a doctor urgently.., you will be assessed by a Registered Nurse.

2007 Olive May 109/1 The downstairs bar is for walk-ins but the upstairs dining room is happy to take bookings.

1964 Studies Intelligence (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) Summer 28 We do have good agents who originally came to us as walk-ins.

1974 V. Marchetti & J. D. Marks CIA & Cult of Intelligence ii. vii. 211 It [sc. the CIA] even has difficulty dealing with the gratuitous opportunities presented by walk-ins and defectors.

1975 P. Agee Inside Company i. 59 The first type is known as the ‘walk-in’. The walk-in is a member of the party who..decides to offer his services to the U.S. government. He makes his initial contact..by walking into the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

1980 E. Behr Getting Even ii. 23 The only really satisfactory defectors were walk-ins, as they were known in the trade.

2006 New Yorker 18 Sept. 26/1 He was arrested on the basis of a tip that the C.I.A. received from an Al Qaeda walk-in willing to help the American side.