commuter orig. U.S.
(kəˈmjuːtə(r))
[f. commute v. + -er1.]
The holder of a commutation-ticket; gen., one who commutes (sense 4 b). Also attrib.
| 1865 Atlantic Monthly XV. 82 Two or three may be styled commuters' roads, running chiefly for the accommodation of city business-men with suburban residences. 1874 B. Harte Foot-hills, Guilds Signal, Old commuters along the line. 1888 Critic (N. York) 6 Oct. 167, I myself perform that feat five or six times a week; and so does every commuter on the New York Central..Railroad. 1902 Kipling Traffics & Discov. (1904) 10 He had his breakfast at 8.45 a.m. to the tick. He might have been a Long Island commuter. 1926 J. Reed Ten Days that shook the World vii. 158 Trains went no further, however, than Tsarskoye... Our car was full of commuters and country people going home. 1931 Economist 21 Feb. 398/2 The problem of the ‘border commuters’ [between Canada and the U.S.A.]. 1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Feb. 86/2 Many things familiar in America need explaining in Britain: ‘commuters' zone’ (season-ticket region). 1940 Auden Another Time 114 From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come. 1956 Times 28 June 9/5 Even five years ago a million commuters were coming daily into the County of London. 1962 Daily Tel. 22 June 14/2 Commuter services around London. 1963 Punch 6 Nov. 678/1 Beyond Kensington into..the commuter-belt. 1963 J. T. Story Something for Nothing iii. 79, I live ten miles out. I'm a scooter commuter. |