| 释义 |
town
\ˈtau̇n\ noun
(-s)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English town, toun, from Old English tūn enclosure, manor, village, town; akin to Old High German zūn enclosure, fence, Old Norse tūn hedge, enclosure, Old Irish dūn fortress
1.
a. : the usually enclosed estate of a feudal lord including the chief dwelling (as a castle) and the community living in villenage around it : manor 2
b. Scotland : a farmhouse with its accompanying land and buildings : farmstead
2. dialect England : a cluster or aggregation of houses recognized as a distinct place : a settlement with a place-name : village, hamlet
3. : a place that is a population and business center and is so recognized geographically and politically: as
a. : a compactly settled area of any size as distinguished from surrounding rural territory
b. : a compactly settled area usually larger than a village but smaller than a city in population and usually incorporated and given definite boundaries and powers by law : a small municipality
c. : a large densely populated urban area; specifically : city
d. : an English village without urban characteristics or the status of an episcopal see but having a periodic fair or market : market town
e. : an incorporated municipal unit in a Canadian province or an Australian state varying in population but usually smaller than a city
4.
a. : the particular town or city under consideration — usually used without an article
< walked to the outskirts of town >
< new arrivals in town >
< was out of town all last week >
< when the circus comes to town >
< left town in a hurry >
b. : the capital city of a country (as London, England)
< aristocracy from every shire flocking to town for the coronation >
c. : the neighboring large city : metropolis
< commute daily to town >
< have an apartment in town >
d. : the business center of a city : downtown
< parked on a residential street and walked the few blocks into town >
< a physician with an office at home and another in town >
e. : a section or district of a city characterized in some specified way (as by location, age, or inhabitants)
< the upper town >
< the old town >
< the French town >
5. : the city as contrasted with the country : urban life — usually used with the
< God made the country, and man made the town — William Cowper >
< a poet not of nature but of the town >
6.
a. : the citizens or inhabitants of a city or town : public
< went to a number of plays that were drawing the town — W.S.Maugham >
b. : the qualified voters of a town : electorate, citizenry
< the town elects two representatives >
c. : the governing officials of a town acting on behalf of the town as a corporation or of the whole body of inhabitants
d. : the townspeople of a college or university town that constitute a group distinct from and often antithetical to the academic community
< the usual battle between Town and Gown was developing, with clubs and quarterstaves as the weapons — T.B.Costain >
— compare gown 2b
e. archaic : the fashionable society of a city
< this vast universal Fool, the Town — John Dryden >
7. : a territorial area having the status of a unit of local government: as
a. : one of a number of territorial units into which the area of a New England state is divided usually containing both rural and unincorporated urban areas under a single town government but sometimes containing or coterminous with an incorporated city or borough — called also township
b. : a territorial unit in a state (as New York) outside New England that usually contains not only rural and unincorporated urban areas but also one or more incorporated villages or other municipal units
c. : township 4b
8. : a unit of local government found chiefly in the New England states constituting a municipal corporation or under broad grants from the state legislature exercising most of the powers of a municipal corporation and having a governmental structure in which the legislative power is exercised by the town meeting and administration is entrusted to a board of selectmen and other officials
9. : something felt to resemble a town: as
a. : a collection of burrows of the prairie dog
b. : an aggregation of nests of penguins
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