container
(kənˈteɪnə(r))
[f. as prec. + -er1.]
He who or that which contains, esp. a receptacle designed to contain or store certain articles; spec. a large box-like receptacle of standardized design for the transportation of freight by road, rail, or sea (see quots.). Also attrib.
| 1502 W. Atkynson tr. T. à Kempis' Imit. xxv. 218 Thy worde forsayd is short & conteyner of great perfeccyon. 1592 Daniel Compl. Rosamond (1717) 61 Fair Eyes, Containers of my Bliss. 1697 J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 175 Their Notion of Place is to be a Container. 1783 H. Blair Rhet. (1812) I. xiv. 339 The relation between the container and the thing contained. 1824 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 501 ‘The kettle boils’, is a phrase where the name of the container is substituted for that of the thing contained. 1865 Bushnell Vicar. Sacr. iii. i. 187 The only Being, and the container of all forces to be. 1925 N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 331 Certain modifications had..been deemed advisable, especially in the cylinder containers. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 4/3 This practical japanned metal container for soiled linen. 1930 Engineering 30 May 709/1 The container-car service, by which less than car loads were carried in portable steel containers. 1933 Meccano Mag. Mar. 200/2 ‘Containers’..are box-like structures of timber or pressed steel resembling the top of a covered wagon..fitted with ringbolts and may be slung..from the low-sided or flat wagon on which they are..carried, and they may then be mounted on road lorries and carted to any required point. 1966 Evening Standard 2 Mar. 11/5 The Americans, in the forefront of the container-ship development.., will send the first ‘container-liner’ across the Atlantic... Most of her cargo space will now be devoted to 20 and 40 ft. containers which can be handled easily on road or rail. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 67/3 British Rail, despite the difficulties over open terminals, are now carrying 1,200 containers a week. 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 6 More container berths are under construction. Ibid., Twelve deep⁓sea containership berths are in operation. Ibid., Timetables revised to incorporate the new fast container trains as they go into service. 1969 Lebende Sprachen XIV. 65/2 The Clyde Port Authority plans to bring its Greenock container terminal into operation later this year. |