congested, ppl. a.
(kənˈdʒɛstɪd)
[f. prec.]
† 1. Heaped together; accumulated.
| 1578 Banister Hist. Man Ep. Ded. 1 To lye waste, and voyde, as a rude congested heape. 1651 Ogilby æsop (1665) 164 On watry Mountains and congested Floods. |
2. a. Med. Overcharged with an unnatural accumulation of blood; affected with congestion.
Cf. quot. 1758 in congest v. 1.
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xx. 260 Their eyes being so congested by the glare of the sun that they are..nearly blind. 1865 R. Hunter in Morn. Star 23 Feb., We physicians say, the lung is congested: by which we mean that the vessels are full almost to bursting. 1877 Roberts Handbk. Med. I. 26 The functions of a congested organ are often materially and seriously interfered with. |
b. transf. Filled up by an obstructive accumulation; overcrowded.
| 1862 B. Taylor Home & Abr. Ser. ii. v. 347 While the atmosphere is heavy, portentous, congested (to borrow a medical word, which expresses the feeling better than any other). 1891 Newspaper, The effects of the congested state of the goods traffic are now being felt in almost every industry.—A scheme for relieving the congested districts in Ireland by means of emigration. |
c. congested district, congested estate: in Ireland and Scotland, an area of land of which the resources are inadequate to support its population. (Cf. congest n.2) Hence applied to similar areas elsewhere. Also of an urban area: excessively full of buildings, traffic. etc.
| 1883 Peel City Guardian 4 Apr. 3/1 The chronic distress prevailing in certain congested parts of Ireland. 1886 Ibid. 4 Sept. 2/1 The worst enemies of the crofters were those who would throw the slightest impediment in the way of..emigration..from the congested districts. 1893 Graphic 14 Jan. 30/2 The Congested Districts Board. 1897 Daily News 30 June 3/4 Congested Districts (Scotland) Bill. 1902 Daily Chron. 26 Mar. 6/1 The definition of a congested estate is one in which one-half of the area is in holdings not exceeding ten acres, or one in which half of the area is bog land or mountain. 1945 Ann. Reg. 1944 49 The Barlow Report on the location of industry..the ‘decongestion’ of congested areas and the encouragement of reasonable balance between different regions. 1957 Encycl. Brit. II. 971/1 He [sc. A. J. Balfour] broadened the basis of material prosperity and social progress by creating the Congested Districts board in 1890. 1963 Daily Tel. 4 Sept. 22/7 Drivers would receive quarterly or monthly accounts for the time they had used their cars in congested town centres. |
3. Bot. ‘Crowded very closely’ (Treas. Bot. 1866).