▪ I. road, n.
(rəʊd)
Forms: 1 rád, 3–5 rade; 4–7 rode (6–7 rhode); 5 rood, 5–7 roode; 6–7 roade (6 rhoade), 6– road. See also raid n.
[OE. rád fem. (f. pret. stem of r{iacu}dan to ride), in sense 1 = Fris. reed, MDu. rede (Flem. dial. rede, ree), MLG. rêt, rêd-, ON. and Icel. reið (MSw. reed(h, MDa. reed, red). In sense 3 the continental forms are MDu. rede, reede (Du. reede, ree), MLG. rede, reide (hence G. reede, rhede, Da. red, rhed, Sw. redd): the view that these are connected with Du. reeden, LG. reiden to fit out, is old but is inconsistent with the history of the Eng. form. On senses 2 and 4 see notes below.]
I. † 1. a. The act of riding on horseback; also, a spell of riding; a journey on horseback. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §7 [He] rit for ðy þe he mid ðære rade earnað sume earnunga. a 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. iii, Þæt he þæt weorc þæs halᵹan godspelles ma þurh his fota gange fremede, þonne on his horsa rade. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 76 Ᵹif mon on mycelre rade oððe on miclum gangum weorðe ᵹeteorad. a 1225 Juliana 76 Sone þerefter com a seli wummon.. bi nicomedes burh o rade toward rome. a 1300 Cursor M. 11427 Þir kinges rides forth þair rade [v.r. rode], Þe stern alwais þam forwit glade. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 100 This knyht on daies brode In clos him hield, and schop his rode On nyhtes time. 1463 Paston Lett. II. 143, I sent your grey hors..to the ferror, and he seythe he shull never be nowght to rood nowthyr ryght good to plowe nor to carte. a 1470 Tiptoft Tulle on Friendsh. (Caxton, 1481) C iij, As we are not wonte rather to chese coltes than horses of 7 yere for our rode. 1605–6 Act for Paving Drury Lane, The Lane..is of late yeeres by occasion of the continuall Rode there, and often Cariages, become deepe, foule, and dangerous. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 17 At last, with easie Rodes, he came to Leicester. |
† b. The act of riding on the waves.
Obs.—1 The use of
OE. rád in Cynewulf's
Elene 981 may belong here, or to sense 3.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1045 Pelleus..puruiaunce hade made Of twenty shippes full shene, shot on þe depe, All redy to the Roode of þe roghe ythes. |
† c. A set or company of riders.
Obs. rare.
| 13.. Coer de L. 5257 These are chosyn in fyrst rod..: Sere Calabre hovyd stylle, To see who wolde ryde hym tylle. 1530 Palsgr. 263/2 Rode, a company of horsmen, chevauchee. |
† 2. spec. The act of riding with hostile intent against a person or district; a hostile incursion by mounted men; a foray, raid.
Obs. Very common
c 1500–1650:
cf. also
inroad. In
mod. use revived in the
Sc. form
raid.
| c 900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 871, Cyninges þeᵹnas oft rade onridon þe mon na ne rimde. 925–35 Sec. Laws of Athelstan 20 (Liebermann), Ðonne ridon þa yldestan men to..and nimon eall ðæt he aᵹe, and fo se cyng to healfum, to healfum ða men ðe on þære rade beon. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 56 Be londe and ek be Schiep He mot travaile..And make manye hastyf rodes. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1180 Mony stithe man..on stedis enarmyt, All redy for þe rode Arayet for the werre. 1481 Coventry Leet Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 475 Aftur a Rode..made vppon the Scottes at thende of this last somer. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xviii. 24 Borderers, whan they make rodes into Scotlande. Ibid. xliv. 60 Than the kyng gaue lycence to the soudiers..to make a rode into Heynalt. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 77 His moste paines hath been taken aboute the warres of Scotlande, and roades made into that countrey. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 54 Northumberland men (exercised in roades upon the Scots) are accounted best light horsemen. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 169 The English..assailed and made Incursions and Rodes upon all Spanish ships, and other places. |
3. a. A sheltered piece of water near the shore where vessels may lie at anchor in safety; a roadstead.
Cf. 1 b and the note there. For Scottish examples see
raid n. 4 (and
reid1).
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 801 To his castel ful riȝt He sailed þe seuenday On rade. Ibid. 955 Tristrem gan stoutely go To lond þat ich niȝt Of rade. [1372–3 in Swinden Gt. Yarmouth (1772) 375 Quendam locum in mari..vocatum Kirkelee Rode.] 1400 Destr. Troy 5586 But the freikes were ferd..For..to remeve fro rode for rokkes in þe se. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 435/2 Roode, of shyppys stondyng, bitalassum. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 187 The seyd Ship lying in the Rode at Eryth in Thamys. 1514 Barclay Cytezen & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 29 Lyke wyse as shyppes be docked in a rode. 1594 Nashe & Marlowe Dido 1500 Why are thy ships new rigd? or to what end, Launcht from the hauen, lye they in the Rhode? 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 138 The Towne Gravesend is a knowne Roade. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 111 Princes..impose Custom upon Ships, as for the use of the Road upon their Coasts. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton i, The pilot..brought the ship into a very good road, where we rid in twenty-six fathoms water. 1775 Romans Florida App. 74 The depth of water in both these roads is from 20 to 24 feet. 1824 Irving T. Trav. I. 34 The tide contrary, the vessell anchored far off in the road. 1850 B. Taylor Eldorado iv. 26 Those [vessels] which are obliged to lie in the open road are exposed to considerable danger. |
| attrib. c 1550 Leland Collect. III. 94 At the rode mouth of Tawe was a castell cawllid..Ostermuth. |
| fig. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 248 No speciall place will I chose for our rode But at auenture where the winde shall us driue. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xii. 42 Now, strike your sailes,..For we be come vnto a quiet rode. 1629 H. Burton Truth's Triumph 75 A secure roade and safe harbour for all heauenly merchants to anchor in. |
† b. at road, riding at anchor.
Obs.| 1439 Rolls of Parlt. V. 29/2 Yn defaute of Cables and Ancres for here seid Shippes and Vesseles, where as they be at rode. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 254 The seid ship lying at Rode in the Kynges haven. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. civ. 26 There both mightie ships saile, and some lye at roade. 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. iii. vi. 17 Yet stand they still, as tho they lay at rode. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen xlii. 131 Such vessels as have laine for a while at quiet rode in the harbor. |
| fig. 1596 Southwell Triumphs over Death 18 God..casteth your anchours where your thoghts should lie at rhode. |
4. a. An ordinary line of communication used by persons passing between different places, usually one wide enough to admit of the passage of vehicles as well as of horses or travellers on foot.
The late appearance of this sense makes its development from sense 1 somewhat obscure, but
Fris. reed and
Flem. ree have acquired similar meanings.
Cf. also
OE. stréamrád the course of a stream,
hwéolrád wheel-track, and the poetic words for ‘sea’,
brim-,
stréam-,
hron-,
seᵹl-,
swanrád. The earlier
Sc. rod n.2, path, is unconnected, and there is no evidence that it had any influence upon the history of the English word.
It is not quite clear whether
cock-road, which appears about 1600 and is implied in the earlier
road-net (see 12), belongs to this sense.
Cf. rode v.
1| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. i. 16 The most villanous house in al London rode. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 183 This Doll Teare-sheet should be some Rode. a 1625 Fletcher Love's Pilgrimage ii. iii, 'Tis a toyle Sir; Like riding in one rode perpetually, It offers no variety. 1636 Sanderson Serm. II. 51 A traveller in a deep rode will be choice of his way throughout. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 431 We diverted out of the common rode to Geneva. 1738 Gray Tasso 37 The downward road That to the grotto leads. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, He inquired for a road among the hills, but heard of none. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. 245 To follow the easier and more circuitous road which led northward to Zadracarta. 1859 Jephson Brittany vi. 68 After this the road became very intricate, and I was fain to hire a little boy to guide me. 1881 Blackmore Christowell xxvi, In a place where the street narrowed into a road. |
b. Mining. ‘Any underground passage, way, or gallery’ (Gresley).
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 975 The roads will be shut up, the air-courses destroyed, and the whole economy of the mining operations deranged. 1978 Lancashire Life July 63/1 He took young Sam down the pit and showed him the seam, eighteen inches high, which he had to work in a road about six feet wide. |
c. Chiefly
U.S. A railroad or railway.
| 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 56 American Railroads... Many circumstances conspire to assist..in the construction of these roads. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 546 There are now very nearly..one thousand miles of rail-road in the State..; the roads were injudiciously laid out, and have been badly managed. 1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 115 A prominent station on the Central Pacific road. 1898 H. E. Hamblen Gen. Manager's Story 68, I was passed along from one road to another, my transportation costing me nothing. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 11 Mar. 2/3 The railway official quoted said he could not state whether the Canadian roads would follow the lead of the United States roads in cutting wages. 1932 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 318/2 Those railways..were once so prosperous that men..thought the roads would own the country unless curbed. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 3 (caption) Blast area with damage to roads and wagons, and a group of derailed wagons. 1950 O. S. Nock Brit. Locomotives 4 The regulator opening was varied a little to suit the rise and fall of the road. 1963 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Jan. 29/3 The road..operates in Guatemala and El Salvador. 1967 Listener 6 Apr. 461/2 At Edenbridge sidings they..told us to stand in number three road to get our breakfast. |
d. Post Office. (See
quots.)
| 1859 A. Andrews Hist. Jrnlism. II. 147 The monopoly of circulating newspapers by the post had been held fast by the clerks of the road, employed by the Post-office. Ibid. 199 The abominable monopoly of the clerks of the roads was still in existence. 1881 Standard 1 Nov. 2/1 At the first rough sorting the letters are distributed into ‘roads’, corresponding with the principal lines of railway communication over the country; the term being a survival of the nomenclature of the old coaching days. |
e. spec. with qualifying word, a common trade-route (now
freq. for illicit goods).
| 1931, etc. [see silk-road s.v. silk n. 10 a]. 1977 Listener 1 Dec. 733/1 The lost city of Zufar, the port which marked the beginning of the incense road, where ships unloaded spices from Asia for the classical Roman world. 1977 H. Osborne White Poppy xliii. 272 The gendarmes would be..watching..the opium roads. |
5. In pregnant uses:
a. on, upon, the road, travelling, journeying, upon or during a journey, etc.; on tour; also
spec. of a person travelling as (
a) a salesman, (
b) a tramp. Also
N. Amer.,
= away adv. 11 (
cf. sense 9 d below).
to take the road, to set out.
| 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. xxxv. Wks. (Grosart) 22 In this same Land as I was on the rode, A nimble traveller me overtook. 1657 Heylin Ecclesia Vind. 115 We finde Israel offering sacrifices at Beersheba (being in his way upon the rode). 1759 Johnson Idler No. 80 ¶6 Her aunt and her mother amuse themselves on the road, with telling her of dangers to be dreaded. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. ix, They slept one night upon the road, and arrived the next day at Delvile Castle. 1833 J. S. Sands Poems 71 James his duds Reekt out..To take the road amang the rest. 1860 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. in All Year Round 28 Jan. 321/1, I am both a town traveller and a country traveller, and am always on the road. 1870 O. Logan Before Footlights xxviii. 367 The organ of the circus people..gives many curious details of circus-life Behind the Scenes, and ‘on the road’. 1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 230 The other two operas, having been on the road for the last three years. 1897 Daily News 6 Sept. 8/2 Many of the companies ‘on the road’..belong to the class that have been organised for the performance of some particular piece. 1897 Forum Feb. 735 It is the man who wilfully and knowingly makes a business of crime..that I have found in largest numbers ‘on the road’. 1907 J. London Road 194 As a sample of life on The Road, I make the following quotation from my diary. 1908 A. Bennett Old Wives' Tale i. iv. 70 He was a traveller for the most renowned and gigantic of all Manchester wholesale firms... He had been on the road for Birkinshaws for several years. 1920 Wodehouse Jill the Reckless (1922) xiv. 210 You've got to stick around with this show after it opens on the road. 1931 M. Allingham Police at Funeral xxi. 277, I know a ‘busy’ when I see one. I 'aven't been on the road for thirty years without gettin' inside once or twice. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier ix. 182, I would find out about tramps..and then, when I..knew the ropes well enough, I would go on the road myself. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) i. 2 When he went on the road with that band it was the beginning of the end of our life as a family. 1967 J. B. Priestley It's an Old Country xv. 162 He was drinking hard, always a dam' silly thing to do on the road, except with a few old customers. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Jan. 17/6 A team with the experienced potential of the defending cup champions is letting its fans down badly when it wins only four of 19 games on the road. 1977 Daily Express 29 Mar. 20/2 We start touring America in May, move on to Europe and England by September, and we are taking the 70 musicians on the road. |
b. the road, the highway. In phrases,
to go upon, or take to, the road, to become a highwayman;
gentleman, or knight, of the road, a highwayman. Now
arch.| 1665 [see knight n. 12 c]. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew Knight of the Road, the chief Highwayman best Mounted and Armed. 1729 Swift Grand Question, So, I took to the Road, and..The first Man I robb'd was a Parson. 1729 ― Direct. Servants iii, I directly advise you, to go upon the Road;..the only Post of Honour left you. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 11 June §10 Martin..could not supply his occasions any other way than by taking to the road. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas i. v, Consorting with gentlemen of the road. 1840 Thackeray Catherine v, [We] found ourselves regular knights of the road, before we knew where we were almost. 1898 Besant Orange Girl Prol., You might go abroad;..anything is better than the Road and the certain end. |
c. to give (one) the road, to allow one to
pass. to take the road of, to take precedence of.
| 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 99 Most certainly, without quarrelling, he takes the road of all mankind. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier 250, I gave them the road. 1897 Daily News 21 Oct. 5/4 When riding a bicycle he met the defendant driving a carrier's van, and the latter gave him no road whatever. |
d. Permission to set out or depart.
| 1863 Speke Discov. Source Nile xiv. 441, I primed him well to plead for the road. Ibid. 445 The moment of triumph had come at last, and suddenly the road was granted. |
e. the rule of the road, the fixed custom which regulates the side to be taken by vehicles, etc. (or
transf. by vessels) in progressing or passing each other.
| 1871 Chamb. Jrnl. 26 Aug. 529 They do not observe ‘the rule of the road’..; they have a tendency to keep on the inner side. 1873 Punch Apr. 139/1 A variety of useless discussions—..one on the rule of the road at sea. 1890 Spectator Sept. 395/2 With us, arts, commerce, letters, and learning would perish long before the rule of the road. |
f. In extended uses based on
all roads lead to Rome (
Rome 1 b (
d)).
| 1917 E. Thomas in Ann. New Poetry 55 Now all roads lead to France. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. xxiii. 209 All roads lead straight to me, as you have so often remarked. 1974 D. G. Compton, Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe vi. 165 ‘Where to now?’..I gestured widely... ‘All roads lead out of town.’ |
g. one for the road: see
one numeral a. 1 d. Also with other numerals.
| 1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man (1957) xix. 184 ‘You've had a few.’ ‘Five for the road. Never let it be said that I took to the highway or even byway without fuel for me little heart.’ |
6. a. Any way, path, or (material) course.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 24 b, The Woodcockes arrive first on the North-coast, where almost euerie hedge serveth for a Roade. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 976 In progress through the rode of Heav'n star-pav'd. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 274 Where Silver Swans sail down the Wat'ry Rode. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy 54 In climes beyond the solar road. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 234 They form a kind of arched roads, about half an inch wide. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxxvii. IV. 19 The nerves and spinal marrow are merely the roads by which the sensations travel. |
b. fig. A way or course,
esp. to some end.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 33 These quondam carpet-mongers, whose names yet runne smoothly in the euen rode of a blank verse. 1607 ― Cor. v. i. 59 You know the very rode into his kindnesse, And cannot lose your way. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §53 There is no road or ready way to vertue. 1700 Pepys Let. to Jackson 9 May, I am, I thank God! greatly recovered, and in a fair road towards being perfectly so. 1730 Fielding Author's Farce iii, Why affairs go much in the same road there as when you were alive. 1752 tr. Rameau's Treat. Mus. iv. 11 Ascending or descending diatonically whatever Road the Bass may take. 1783 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) I. 250 They were precipitating themselves in the road to ruin. 1818 Shelley Julian 347 There is one road To peace and that is truth. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lxix, All those little artifices which find the readiest road to their hearts. 1879 Froude Cæsar ix. 95 There were but two roads to eminence in Rome, oratory and service in the army. |
| ellipt. 1878 in St. George's Hosp. Rep. (1879) IX. 779, I think it may be some time before she is quite right; but when the os and cervix are sound,..she will be on the road. |
c. royal road , a smooth or easy way; a method (of study, etc.) unaccompanied by difficulties.
The expression stems from a saying attributed to Euclid by Proclus (
Comm. on Euclid Prol.): µὴ εῖναι βασιλικὴν ἀτραπὸν ἐπὶ γεωµετρίαν there is no royal short cut to geometry.
| 1793 Beddoes Demonstr. Evid. 59 In this science there is no transcendental road; but I imagine a royal road might be struck out. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne, etc. ii. 27 Dionysius and Frederick both experienced, that there is no royal road to the genuine honours of literature. 1810 Crabbe Borough xxiv. 28 Learning is labour,..Nor must we hope to find the royal road. 1857 Trollope Barchester T. II. i. 2 There is no royal road to learning; no short cut to the acquirement of any valuable art. 1860 Mansel Proleg. Log. ix. (ed. 2) 288 Logic..is neither able to open a Royal Road to the Encyclopædia, nor [etc.]. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 453 There is no royal road to recovery for stutterers. 1918 A. S. Eddington Rep. Relativity Theory Gravitation ii. 27 Some readers will find the next two chapters difficult,..but I doubt if there is any royal road to relativity. 1954 ‘N. Shute’ Slide Rule vii. 158 There is no royal road to risk capital, no tap that can be turned on. 1966 P. Green tr. Escarpit's Novel Computer xiv. 173, I had to obtain that last official stamp of approval which could open up the royal road towards an easy and fruitful career. 1971 Daily Tel. 19 Apr. 23 The royal road for the research scientist in industry is sign⁓posted by positive answers to some critical questions: [etc.]. |
† d. fig. A string
of words; a limited range of thought or discourse.
Obs.| a 1690 Hopkins Exposit. 2 To mutter over a road of Words only,..as multitudes of many ignorant Persons among us do. 1693 Locke Educ. §120 The Discourses of Men, who talk in a Road, according to the Notions they have borrowed. |
e. A narrow band.
| 1802 Trans. Soc. Arts XX. 275 Each millstone, divided into nine spaces, having ten circular roads in each space. |
f. A connected set of railway-trucks, barges, etc.
| 1895 Daily News 11 Feb. 3/2 The barges..have suffered most, one ‘road’ of 12 and another of 15 breaking away together. 1903 Daily Record & Mail 1 June, When a ‘road’ of trucks is loaded it is ready to be drawn out of the siding. |
g. capitalist road [
tr. Chinese
zībĕn zhŭyì dàolù],
esp. during the Cultural Revolution in China, an observable tendency to adopt political ideals and practices leading towards capitalism.
Cf. roader1 7.
| 1966 Peking Rev. 12 Aug. 8/2 The main target of the present movement is those within the Party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road. 1966 N.Y. Times 11 Dec. 3/3 Peking newspapers..attacked Hsia Yen, a playwright and former Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs, as one of those in authority in the Communist party who had taken ‘the capitalist road’. 1971 W. F. Dorrill in T. W. Robinson Cultural Revol. in China ii. 72 Numerous accusations were raised against the ‘handful’ in authority in the Party who were following the ‘capitalist road’. 1973 T. R. Tregear Chinese iii. 58 The reliance on the profit motive and bonuses—Economism and ‘taking the capitalist road’, as he [sc. Mao] dubbed it. 1978 China Reconstructs Nov. 2/2 Anyone who pushed production or technical research was labeled as taking the capitalist road and ignoring politics. |
7. a. A way or direction taken or pursued by a person or thing; a course followed in a journey. Freq. with possessive pronouns.
| 1612–8 Daniel St. Brit. under Saxons Wks. (Grosart) IV. 114 Euery Coast and Part of the Land were miserably made the open rodes of spoyle and sackage. a 1635 Randolph Poems (1668) 82 No venomous snake makes this his rode, No kanker, nor the loathsome toad. 1742 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 10, I made it my Road to pass thro' Witham. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy ii. iii, No sooner was my uncle Toby satisfied which road the cannon-ball did not go, but [etc.]. 1790 Bruce Source Nile I. 171 Our road was all the way in an open plain. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 141 But I wanted to get on my road, and could not afford to lose a chance. |
b. out of the (or one's) road, out of the way, in various senses.
dial. or
colloq.| 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. 2 That Britain being a by-Corner, out of the Road of the World, seemed the safest Sanctuarie from persecution. c 1680 Dallas Stiles (1697) 904 It is out of my Road as Clerk to the Signet, to set down the Donators claim. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 137 'Twas a Question out of my Road. 1721 Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. (1830) I. 3 It would not be out of the road, if I should continue the thread of our..history. 1826 A. Royall Sk. Hist., Life, & Manners U.S. 58 Put them cheers, (chairs) out of the road. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Out of one's road, a form of expression applied negatively to a person who never loses sight of his own interest. 1863 Atkinson Prov. Danby, Out o' t' road, remote, out of the way, inconvenient to get at. 1876 Smiles Sc. Naturalist ii. 40 Just gie him some⁓thing, Maggie, and get him oot o' the road. 1924 E. O'Neill Desire under Elms iii. i, in Compl. Wks. II. 200 Git out o' my road! Give me room! I'll show ye dancin'. 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xxiv. 269 Yes, I was cowardly enough to wait until you were out of the road. 1953 Amer. Speech XXVIII. 253 You are in the road... Get out of my road. |
c. in one's (or the) road, in one's way, so as to cause obstruction or inconvenience.
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., ‘You're quite in one's road’ is a phrase often addressed to a person who, by over-officiousness, retards instead of assists. 1876 S. R. Whitehead Daft Davie 146 ‘I hope I'm no in your road,’ says I. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 67 He looked..leggy, coltish, and in the road. |
8. a. The usual course, way, or practice. In
phr. out of the road of.
| 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. v. 9 I'll do any thing now that is virtuous; but I am out of the road of rutting for ever. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. iv, Grant my carriage Out of the road and garb of private women, 'Tis still done with decorum. 1653 H. More Conject. Cabbal. (1713) 238 The Truth or Falshood of all that venture to speak out of the Rode of their own Sect. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. i. 114 Out of the road of plain truth and common sense. 1821 Lamb Elia i. Mackery End, Nothing goes down with her, that is quaint, irregular, or out of the road of common sympathy. |
b. So
common,
general,
usual road. Chiefly with
out of. (
Cf. run n.)
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. To Rdr., How many..suspect this, his short essay of knowledge, transcending the common road? 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 357 Several suggestions that are new, out of the common rode. 1676 Otway Don Carlos ii. i, Why should it be a stain then on my blood, Because I came not in the common road? 1708 Swift Predictions for 1708, They are not able to spell any Word out of the usual road. 1732 Fielding Mock Doctor Ded., I shall not here proceed in the common road of dedications. 1778 F. Burney Diary 26 Aug., His manners are somewhat blunt..and he is altogether out of the common road. |
c. dial. Way, manner;
esp. in phrases
no road,
some road.
| 1883 C. S. Burne Shropshire Folk Lore 45 They couldna get shet on 'em no road. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 327, I don't say Johnny would steal a horse... But he'd have one for me, some road or other. 1895 J. Barlow Strangers at Lisconnel i, It's just be the road of humouring her now and agin. |
d. any road,
anyroad = anyway adv. and conj. 3. (Chiefly
north. dial.)
| 1896 F. M. T. Palgrave Hetton-le-Hole Words 38 ‘Any road’ (anyhow). 1932 P. MacDonald Rope to Spare xi. 156 Anyroad, sir, to cut a long story brief, I gets down to the mill-'ouse. 1964 O. E. Middleton Walk on Beach ii. 28 And how is the arm today, anyroad? 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby vii. 67 We knew we'd have to expect one or two failures... Any road, we crossed it off. 1976 ‘J. Charlton’ Remington Set i. 5 Any road, what's it to you? |
II. attrib. and
Comb. (chiefly in sense 4).
The examples given under 9 and 10 are only a small number of those actually in use.
9. Attrib. with names of things:
a. In the sense ‘used on or for the road’, as
road-car,
road-chaise,
road engine,
road-harrow,
road-light,
road-locomotive,
road-scraper,
road tanker,
road-wagon, etc.
| 1888 19th Cent. Feb. 240 The box seat of an omnibus or the garden-seated top of a *road-car. 1906 Chambers's Jrnl. 24 Feb. 205/2 In appearance it is a very different thing from the road-car which may perhaps be regarded as its parent. 1955 A. Budrys in D. Knight 100 Yrs. Sci. Fiction (1969) 251 Just before he reached the Boonesboro town line, he saw the locked and weathered cottage standing for sale... He had pulled his roadcar up to a gentle stop, swung sideways in his seat, and looked at it. 1976 Times 20 Mar. 14/6 Many off-track activities including a concours d'elegance of classic road cars. |
| 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXV. 307 His Lordship..came to town in a *road-chaise and four. |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 323/2 (heading) *Road-Engines. 1886 Walla Walla (Washington) Union 24 Nov. 3/4 The ‘hog’ will haul nine loaded cars up the heavy Alto grade, while the ordinary road engine had a hard tussel to haul four or five. 1925 S. O'Casey Let. 11 Sept. (1975) I. 147 A lumbering road-engine, with its monstrous, monotonous rumble. 1971 J. Terrell Bunkhouse Papers xii. 155 A road engine purring over beyond the depot, waiting to hook on to the Limited. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 165 The *road-harrow..seems to answer pretty well. |
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xix, Those sweet eyes that were the *road-lights of her tongue. 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 71 As road lights are not, it is very dangerous to drive unless with good lamps. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1952/2 *Road-locomotives are employed to some extent in England and in British India. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Road-scraper, a large metal hoe or machine for cleansing highway roads. |
| 1864 Webster, *Road-sulky, a light, two-wheeled vehicle for one person. |
| 1968 Guardian 1 Oct. 5/2 *Road tanker drivers..are protesting against the proposal..to install a tachograph in lorries. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 406/2 Oil..would be taken by road tanker to Furzebrook. |
| 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman June iv. 37, I sent thirty-four Bushels at one Time..by a common *Road Waggon. a 1787 G. White Selborne cvi, The snow..began to stop the road-waggons and coaches. 1808 Sporting Mag. XXX. 247 The driver of a road-waggon became the object of their diversion. 1880 Hardy Trumpet-Major II. xvi. 14 This gentleman..suggested that Bob should wait till three or four that afternoon, when the road⁓waggon would arrive. 1968 J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 150 Road-wagons could not be run during the months of winter. |
b. With words denoting parts of the road, its substance or surroundings, etc., as
road-bank,
road-bed,
road-bend,
road-crossing,
road-cut,
road-cutting,
road-dust,
road-edge,
road-end,
road frontage,
road island,
road-rail,
road sign,
road-stone,
road stud,
road surface, etc.
| 1863 B. Taylor Hannah Thurston III. ii. 54 As they drove homewards through the cool evening air, through..the golden-rods on the *road-banks. 1897 Outing XXX. 244/2 He had jumped, and so saved himself from going over the side of the road-bank. |
| 1840 Tanner Canals & Railroads U.S. Gloss., *Road-bed, that part of a rail-road upon which the superstructure reposes. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 349 The road-bed is back-furrowed up, so that the side gutters are from two to four feet in depth. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 61/1 In order that the oiling may be confined to the road-bed only, the rails are kept free from spraying by guards on the sprinkling-car. 1938 L. Mumford Culture of Cities 316 Small wonder that the Nile and the Euphrates..were the roadbeds of their civilization. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. i. 3/1 In addition to some rocky road⁓beds and a pretty rotten record for staying on schedule, it is true that there are a number of well-aged cars. |
| 1911 J. Masefield Jim Davis iii. 36 The watcher at the *road⁓bend came running back. |
| 1841 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 62/1 There are five level *road-crossings. |
| 1978 Nature 8 June 459/1, I have collected unweathered samples from new exposures in quarries and *roadcuts in the type area. |
| 1936 Discovery Jan. 21/2 The Aculeate Hymenoptera, many of which take advantage of banks in *road-cuttings and well⁓trodden paths, all made by man. |
| 1854 Dickens Hard T. ii. vi. 195 So strange to have the *road-dust on his feet instead of the coal-grit. 1857 Thornbury Songs Cav. & Roundheads 188 Where the road-dust clogs and clings. |
| 1876 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 424 Calves are allowed to graze on the wasteful..*road-edge. |
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxx, At the *road end, he guessed, there must be either a bridge or a ford. |
| 1942 London Replanned 5/2 Better building sites on important *road frontages. 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 15/4 (Advt.), Pleasant semi-detached house with half an acre of land. Road frontage 39{p} 6{pp}. |
| 1932 L. Golding Magnolia St. iii. iii. 511 She..took up her stand just off the pavement... Tram⁓drivers, chauffeurs, cyclists..accepted her as part of the landscape, like a *road-island. |
| c 1830 Treat. Roads 11 in Husb. III. (L.U.K.), The importance of toughness in a *road-material. |
| 1903 J. Masefield Cargoes in Broad Sheet No. 17, With a cargo of Tyne coal, *Road-rails, pig-lead. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 237 About two..horseloads of *road scrapings, or way soil. |
| 1904 Car VII. 240/2 *Road signs... The conference held..to consider the desirability of uniformity of action with regard to signs and notice boards. 1914 Autocar XXXIII. 574/2 Owing to the fact that the mutilation of road signs by sportsmen and others has caused considerable confusion..the California State Automobile Association is reported to have lately placed a bull's eye target on each post. 1949 N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing ix. 211 There's one thing..that's sticking out of this mess like a road-sign and I can't read it. 1976 P. Lively Stitch in Time i. 3 Maria saw this place announce itself with a road-sign. Lyme Regis. She had been studying road-signs throughout the journey. |
| 1894 A. Morrison Mean Streets 199 Treacherous holes lurked in the carpet of *road-soil on the stairs. |
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. i. 33/2 The *roadstone bydes, And holds fast Boates, in tempests, winds, and tides. 1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornw., etc. 481 Road-stones have to resist both friction and pressure. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 583/2 The qualities required in a good road stone are hardness, toughness, and ability to resist the action of the weather. 1958 [see aggregate ppl. a. and n. B. 5]. 1970 Railway Mag. Oct. 577/2 The roadstone is transferred to road vehicles for transport to the motorway site. |
| 1935 Economist 11 May 1112/1 Several rather special branches of the local steel industry have experienced some increase of activity.., notably armaments, aircraft steel..and stainless steel *road studs. 1959 E. K. Wenlock Kitchin's Road Transport Law (ed. 12) 112/2 No vehicle, except a solo bicycle.., may stop on a road between the road studs and the crossing. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 583/1 The *road surface should have just enough convexity to throw the wet off freely. 1976 ‘J. Ross’ I know what it's like to Die xxiv. 151 Seeing the road surface slipping sideways as he toppled. |
| 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 159/2 The *road-track of the caravans..passes through this place. |
| 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 15 He clambered over the low *road wall. |
| 1874 Ruskin Fors Clav. xlviii. 265 The surveyors of the parish insist on letting all the *road-washings run into it. |
c. Miscellaneous, as
road accident,
road act,
road atlas,
road-bill,
road casualty,
road-cess,
road-chart,
road construction,
road death,
road-district,
road expenses,
road haulage,
road junction,
road kill,
road-law,
road maintenance,
road manners,
road map,
road-march,
road marching,
road-marker,
road-meet,
road-meeting,
road-melody,
road-mile,
road-name,
road noise,
road project,
road race,
road-racing,
road-railway,
road rumble,
road safety,
road signing,
road space,
road speed,
road system,
road toll,
road-tour,
road traffic,
road transport,
road-web,
road wheel, etc.
| 1935 ‘Owner-Driver’ (title) *Road accidents and speed limits. 1976 P. Driscoll Barboza Credentials i. i. 16 A policeman..had seen the bodies of enough road-accident victims to know what to expect. |
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 357 To apply to Parliament for a particular *road act. |
| 1905 (title) Pratt's *road atlas of England and Wales for motorists. 1963 Which? July 196/1 When maps are bound together in book form, they are called road atlases. |
| 1791 Boswell Johnson 20 Mar. 1775, I was engaged as Counsel..to oppose a *road-bill. 1971 Guardian 7 July 1 The Minister for Transport..announced..new measures designed to reduce *road casualties. |
| 1878 J. Inglis Sport & W. ii. 11 The *road-cess has to be paid. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 723/1 This famous map is a *road-chart rather than a record of ethnology. |
| 1961 Suspense Mar. 119 One of his officers found him a job with a *road construction company. 1977 Borneo Bull. 7 May 17/1 (Advt.), Sakai..of Japan have been making road construction machines since 1918. |
| 1936 A. Christie ABC Murders xvii. 124 There are, what is it—about 120—*road deaths every week? 1966 Listener 22 Sept. 412/1 The natural life of man..may still be short for many of us in organized society today, if road deaths continue at their present rate. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 352 The taxable property in each *road district. |
| 1839 Dickens Let. 1 Mar. (1965) I. 515 The money for the coach-fares and *road expences will be paid by you and Mitton. |
| 1938 Act 1 & 2 Geo. VI c. 44 §1 For the purpose of regulating the remuneration of workers employed upon *road haulage work..there shall be established by the Minister of Labour..a board..to be called the Road Haulage Central Wages Board. 1977 ‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load ii. 30 The road haulage world was a friendly one. |
| 1936 Discovery Oct. 317/2 The first busy *road junction in the country to be equipped with invisible ray apparatus, to enable pedestrians to cross the roads in safety. |
| 1972 R. & R. Wright Cariboo Mileposts 40 They [sc. magpies]..usually feed on carrion or *road⁓kills. 1976 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 28 Mar. 7/2 Road kills have taken a few sheep of breeding age annually. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 348 *Road laws in this magnificent State..seldom executed. |
| 1961 Atlanta Constitution 6 Mar. 4 It [sc. DeKalb's budget] includes..increased expenditures for essential services such as..sanitation and *road maintenance. |
| 1942 Ann. Reg. 1941 98 A serious deterioration of *road⁓manners. 1963 Bird & Hutton-Stott Veteran Motor Car 159 The result may be a hybrid but it is undeniably magnificent with better-than-100 m.p.h. performance and perfect road manners. |
| 1883 Wheelman (Boston, Mass.) I. 315 The preparation of *road maps and posting of guide⁓boards are to be important features in next season's work. 1959 Times 25 June 12/6 My best aid was a road-map, which showed all dry sandy areas in Holland. 1972 ‘H. Buckmaster’ Walking Trip 112 She..stopped at a magazine kiosk and..bought a road map of Scotland. |
| 1960 Times 17 Sept. 7/7 A steelband may have any number of instrumentalists, from the basic four up to a ‘carnival *road-march side’ of over 100. |
| 1977 R.A.F. News 8–21 June 7/1 Although very little is heard of *road marching in the UK..on the Continent it is almost a national pastime. |
| 1970 J. McN. Dodgson Place-Names of Cheshire I. 166 ME clywe, cle(o)we..might be used here..to denote a mound serving as a landmark and *road-marker on the wild moors. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 1-b/4 Mocabee said Ferguson's motorcycle struck a road marker. |
| 1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker iii. 114 The tracks at the *road-meet led away to the left. |
| 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring 18 As still passed to and fro through that ancient *road-meeting. |
| 1866 Carlyle Inaug. Addr. Edin. 45 A kind of *road-melody or marching-music of mankind. |
| c 1669 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 284 His Discourse is like the *Road-Miles in the North, the filthier and dirtier the longer. |
| 1914 Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 12/1 Beside the monakers or *road names of a hundred hoboes were scratched such messages as: ‘Beware of dog’. 1965 Eng. Stud. XLVI. 266 The variant..can be confirmed from the Windsor road-name. 1970 J. McN. Dodgson Place-Names of Cheshire I. 49 The road-name Lymestrete. |
| 1963 Times 4 June 7/7 Above 65–70 m.p.h...*road noise was high. 1973 Times 24 May 35/1 The engine is remarkably quiet and there is almost no road or wind noise. |
| 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 18 Nov. 32/5 Six Filipinos working on a *road project in the southern island of Mindanao were killed in an ambush. |
| a 1904 W. J. Fisher Let. in S. Weintraub London Yankees vi. 201, I am anxious to do nothing to discourage motoring, and I do not at all object to this *road race. 1926 E. Hemingway Sun also Rises xix. 247 Organizing the road races had made him know France... All spring and all summer and all fall he spent on the road with bicycle road-racers. 1954 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Nov. 17/2 The world's longest road-race test of car stamina and driving skill. 1976 Cumberland News 3 Dec. 19/3 The Border mens' team came home in eleventh position in the Brampton to Carlisle ten mile road-race. |
| 1828 Sporting Mag. XXII. 235 His happiness was *road-racing, as it is now turf-racing. 1898 Cycling 81 From time to time feeble revivals occur, but the doom of road-racing is sealed. |
| 1960 E. Bowen Time in Rome i. 18 Hilarious buses, electric *road⁓railways zooming into the hills. |
| 1952 Jrnl. Accoustical Soc. Amer. XXIV. 661/1 In playback of a monaural recording of *road rumble through a speaker, the observer can assign a direction to the source. 1976 Honolulu Star-Bull. 21 Dec. f1/1 Undercoating insulates you from hot roads, reduces road rumble, and protects against stone chip damage. |
| 1920 Sci. Amer. 6 Nov. 467 Automobile Signals for Danger Spots... New illustrations of old ideas for street comfort and *road safety. 1937 M. Borden Black Virgin i. 4 Road-safety instruction for school children. 1977 C. Watson One Man's Meat x. 95 The chief constable..muttered ‘Good gracious me, road safety committee.’ |
| 1886 Lett. fr. Donegal 13 The ‘*Road-Sessions’ meets twice a year in each barony. |
| 1968 Autocar 14 Mar. 24/1 British *road signing is often the best in Europe. 1979 Internat. Jrnl. Sociol. of Law Feb. 68 There are various ways by which the police could prevent and control traffic disorders and road accidents:..proper and adequate road-signing, [etc.]. |
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 393/1 The remainder of the *road space is formed as an earthen track. 1975 Times 14 Mar. (Small Car Suppl.) p. ii/3 If you took 3 ft off the average car, you would have another six million feet of road space [in London]. |
| 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xxiv. 135 It's a good road... There was no need to burn up any *road-speed records. 1977 ‘E. Trevor’ Theta Syndrome vi. 83 The TR-2 had collided with another vehicle..at a much higher road speed. |
| 1845 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. 19 Apr. 242/1 The whole *road system of Great Britain..is..the most awkward and absurd institution on the face of the earth. 1904 W. M. Ramsay Lett. Seven Churches xxix. 416 Laodicea was a knot on the road-system. 1932 F. L. Wright Autobiogr. iii. 321 The United States every⁓where already affords increasingly great road-systems. 1976 G. Seymour Glory Boys i. 7 The maps..showed..the road system of northern France. |
| 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 193 The *road-tax (statute-labour) is stated to be 7l. per cent. upon the rent. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 352 The town trustees levy a road tax each year. |
| 1796 Marshall W. Eng. II. 206 A shameful *road toll. 1966 B. Castle in Highway Code 1 The road toll is a tragic waste—a waste of lives, a squandering of resources. 1977 Borneo Bull. 7 May 36/1 Razali's death pushed the road toll to 17. |
| 1920 Wodehouse Jill the Reckless (1922) xviii. 269, I sold it half-way through the *road-tour. |
| 1864 Great Western Mag. Jan. 36 Some idea of the startling effect which it had upon the *road traffic may be formed from the fact that the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Roads..ceased to light the roads near Kensington. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. June 340/1 A successful attempt was made to conduct road-traffic without the use of animal-power. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 140/1 Lighting-up Times,..under the Road Traffic Act, 1956, are from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise. |
| 1913 H. E. Wimperis (title) The principles of the application of power to *road transport. 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 231/1 Road-transport-weigh-bridge at the entrance of the Uberseehafen. |
| 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son vi. 58 Then take the *road-web for the ordinary tourist. London some hundred miles. Salisbury thirty or so. |
| 1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 266 The meter records the fare..switching from miles to minutes automatically as soon as the *road-wheels stop turning. 1975 Country Life 2 Jan. 32/3 Sports road wheels with radial-ply tyres. |
d. N.
Amer. attrib. or as adj. with reference to sporting fixtures played away from home, as
road game,
road trip, etc.
Cf. on the road above (sense 5 a) and
away adv. 11.
| 1961 Newsweek 14 Aug. 44/3 He broadened teammates' minds by reading sensitive passages aloud during road trips. 1961 Dallas Morning News 10 Oct. ii. 3 The Texans have two more road games—at Buffalo and Houston—before they play for the old folks again. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 42/5 The Leafs..have won only four of 19 road games. 1973 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 27 Jan. 12/2 Working with ropes and on stools in stretching exercises in hotels on long road trips. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July 1-c/3 Hoff also said the Mustangs two road victories at Lethbridge helped settle the club down and give it some confidence. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. c2/4 On the road games, Bill wanted the home team to take the court first because he loved to come out and kick them off the end of the court he wanted. |
10. a. Attrib., with words denoting persons, or groups of persons,
esp. such as are connected with the making or control of roads, as
road-authority,
road board,
road-contractor,
road-gang,
road haulier,
road-master,
road-party,
road-police,
road scout,
road-trust,
road-trustee; also
road-acquaintance,
road-fellow,
road-pilgrim, etc.
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 264 Any other *road acquaintances that might be encountered. |
| 1898 Engineering XVI. 30 In London..the *road authority is the vestry, or district board of works. |
| 1865 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser 27 Feb. 123/8 (heading) Meredith *Road Board. 1915 Political Q. May 180 The Road Board..has restricted the grants to completing advances promised before the war. |
| 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 74 (heading) *Contractors—road and sewer. 1936 Discovery Feb. 55/1 The diversion of the roadway..did not suit the plans of the road-contractors. |
| 1873 St. Paul's Mag. i. 641 Your *road-fellow is almost as hard to choose as your bed-fellow. |
| 1889 H. F. Wood Englishman Rue Caïn xiv, The *road-gangs of English navvies. |
| 1937 Daily Tel. 16 Feb. 7/2 (heading) *Road hauliers win test case. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 473/1 Rail movement cannot yet match the norm of around 60,000 miles a year which properly run road hauliers get from their vehicles. |
| 1825 Kingston (Ontario) Chron. 7 Jan. 3/3 Bulls and Oxen to run at large—Fences 5 feet high. *Road Masters to be Judges of Fences. 1856 N.Y. Herald 12 Jan. 1/4 James Flood is road master of his section; any obstruction being on the track it is the duty of the flagman to exhibit his red flag. 1898 Engineering XVI. 66 The road master..has charge, of the roadway, including the track, bridges [etc.]. 1905 Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 21 On my uncle's farm, in Connecticut. He was what they call road-master there. 1966 Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 1 Sept. 3/2 The roadmaster came down on his track speeder and gave us a fatherly talking to. |
| 1840 *Road party [see iron gang s.v. iron n.1 15]. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 141/1 Road-parties, chain-gangs, and penal settlements. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. ix. 182 Heavy boots were called road party boots. |
| 1890 Cath. News 5 July 7/4 The *road-pilgrims took four days on their journey. |
| 1853 Card. Wiseman Ess. III. 154 At every stage we met small patrols of active *road-police. |
| 1931 Star 8 May 16/1 While being chased by a *road scout on a motor-cycle..a car collided with a lamp post. |
| 1813 Edwards Meas. True Policy 66 Such Distributive Societies..would scarce differ from common *Road Trusts. |
| 1854 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (ed. 4) II. 51 The road..was not formed under the superintendence of *road trustees. |
b. With agent-nouns, as
road-builder,
road-cutter,
road-improver,
road-mender,
road-repairer,
road-surveyor,
road-upper,
road-user, etc.
| 1857 Emerson Poems 105 Path-finder, *road-builder. 1898 Athenæum 19 Mar. 366/3 The original road-builders of Greece. |
| 1880 Lumberman's Gaz. 7 Jan. 28 After the log-makers come the ‘*road-cutters’, who clear away the brush and small logs. |
| c 1830 Treat. Roads 10 in Husb. III. (L.U.K.), We shall now offer some rules for the guidance of *road-improvers on this head. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 231, I never wish to see a *road-mender again. 1879 Stevenson Ess. Trav. (1905) 186, I began an improving acquaintance with the foreman road-mender. |
| 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §44 *Road repairer;..keeps roadways in repair below ground; [etc.]. 1932 Auden Orators ii. 49 Acting suspiciously as road-repairers. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 348 The immediate supervision of construction and repairs is generally under the direction of local ‘*road supervisors’. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 99 The *road-surveyor, or way-warden.., takes care that such communications..are sufficiently numerous. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Road-surveyor, an officer who has the supervision of roads, and whose duty it is to see them kept in good order. |
| 1928 Daily Express 12 June 3/4 The ‘*road-uppers’ are busy in London again. |
| 1890 Daily News 19 Sept. 5/4 Numerous collisions between the two classes of *road-users. 1922 Daily Mail 25 May 4/4 Always show..courtesy to all other road users. 1959 Radio Times 23 Oct. 3/1 Certain categories of road-users are barred..; these include pedal cyclists, invalid carriages and ‘L’ drivers. 1976 Oadby & Wigston (Leics.) Advertiser 26 Nov. 6/5 As an ordinary citizen and road user he said he had been concerned enough about the road to see the police and Harborough District Council about it. |
11. a. With
vbl. ns., as
road-breaking,
road-building,
road-burning,
road-cleansing,
road-hugging,
road-patching,
road-pricing,
road-surfacing,
road-widening, etc.
| 1900 Daily News 6 Dec. 5/7 There would be a very large annual saving in the avoidance of *roadbreaking. |
| 1910 W. James in McClure's Mag. Aug. 467/2 To coal and iron mines,..to *road-building and tunnel-making,..would our gilded youths be drafted off. 1980 Times 29 Feb. 18 Civil engineers claim {pstlg}200m debt backlog on road⁓building contracts. |
| 1931 T. E. Lawrence Let. 11 Mar. (1938) 716 After that some *road-burning [i.e. fast travelling on the roads], I hope. |
| 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. iv. 48 The sanitary effects of *road-cleansing. |
| 1963 Times 29 Jan. 3/7 The lightness of steering and smooth *road-hugging feel of the..suspension give the car..a steady gait. 1977 Custom Car Nov. 70/1 (Advt.), An incredibly wide tyre for road-hugging traction-action! |
| 1974 Evening Herald (Rock Hill, S. Carolina) 18 Apr. 4/1 These costs—for paving, *road-patching materials, garbage containers, county employe salaries, all keep climbing each year. |
| 1964 Punch 17 June 878/3 A panel research statement on ‘*road pricing’. 1976 P. R. White Planning for Public Transport x. 210 If road pricing were introduced in urban areas to indicate scarcity of road space, then some reduction in national fuel-tax rates would be appropriate. |
| 1912 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 10 The sputter and crackle of *road⁓surfacing machines. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. XI. 725/1 Many other methods of road surfacing have been experimented with. |
| 1898 Engineering XVI. 35 The taking of fore-courts or a slice of garden for *road-widening. |
b. With
adjs., as
road-ready,
road-shy,
road-weary,
road-wise.
| 1775 Ash Suppl., Roadwise, expert in choosing the road; apt to keep the road. 1841 Emerson Misc. 199 Girt and road-ready for the lowest mission of knowledge. 1872 Talmage Serm. 241 Here he comes—the Lord of Glory—dust-covered and road-weary. 1914 ‘Saki’ Beasts & Super-Beasts 32 He [sc. a horse] was not really road-shy, but there were one or two objects of dislike that brought on sudden attacks of what Toby called the swerving sickness. |
c. With
ppl. adjs., as
road-hauled,
road-killed,
road-stained.
| 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 2/2 European *road-hauled transport. |
| 1980 Topeka (Kansas) Capital 23 Feb., I once unsuspectingly ate and enjoyed a turkey vulture (which my funloving host passed off as a *road⁓killed wild turkey). |
| 1964 F. Warner Early Poems 67 Gathering her *road-stained dress She lay within a rock recess. |
12. Special combs., as
road-agent,
U.S., a highway robber; hence
road-agenting;
road allowance Canada, (
a) a strip of land retained by government authorities for the construction of a road; (
b) an area at either side of a road which remains a public right-of-way;
road apples pl. N. Amer. slang, horse droppings;
road band, a touring group of musicians;
road-borne a., conveyed by road; also
transf.;
road-bound a., dependent on roads; restricted to using roads;
road brand N. Amer., a temporary brand given to cattle in transit; hence as
v. trans.;
road breaker, (
a) one employed to break up the road surface prior to repair, etc.; (
b) a mechanical tool used for this;
road bridge, a bridge that carries a road;
road company U.S., a travelling theatrical company;
road control, a station for checking travellers' credentials, etc.; a group of people making such checks;
road-craft, (
a) knowledge of or skill in matters pertaining to the use of the road; road sense; (
b)
collect. = road traffic;
road crew, the group of ‘roadies’ which accompanies a touring band of musicians;
road-drift, the scrapings of roads;
road drill, (
a) a mechanical drill used for breaking up road surfaces; (
b) the routine for crossing a road safely;
road driver U.S., (
a) one who drives animals on the road; (
b) a long-distance lorry-driver;
road-farer, one who travels by road; also
road-faring n. and a.;
road-ferry, a ferry serving a road;
road foreman (see
quot.);
road fund, a fund,
esp. that established by the Roads Act of 1920, to meet provisions for roads;
road-glass,
U.S., a road-lamp;
road hand,
Austral., a man hired to assist in driving cattle, etc.;
road-head, (
a)
Mining, the part of a roadway between the last support and the face; so
road-heading, mining at a road-head; (
b)
= road-end;
road hockey Canada, a type of hockey played in the road;
road-holding, the ability of a car to retain its stability;
road-house, a wayside inn or hotel; also, any roadside establishment providing refreshment or entertainment;
road hunter, a hound which is adept at following a scent on the road; so
road-hunting a.;
road jobber (see
quot.);
road kid slang, a boy tramp or hobo;
road life, the life of those who are ‘on the road’;
road manager, an organizer of tour details and supervisor of equipment, etc., for musicians ‘on the road’;
road-mark, (
a) a road sign (in
quot. fig.); (
b)
U.S. = road brand;
road-metal , broken stone used in making roads; hence
road-metalling;
road-mobile a., suitable for transporting by road;
road-money, (
a) money for travelling expenses; (
b) a rate collected for the maintenance of roads;
road-monkey (see
quot. 1895);
† road-net, a net used for taking game in a cock-road;
road oil N. Amer., oil sprinkled on the roads to lay dust;
road pane (see
pane n.1 9);
road patrol, (
a) a person or group of people patrolling the roads; (
b)
Canada, a machine used in the maintenance of unpaved roads;
road plate, one of the plates carrying the roadway in an iron bridge;
road post, (
a) a sign-post; (
b) a military post stationed or situated on a road;
road racer, (
a) a vehicle used in road-racing; (
b) a contestant in a road race;
road-rail, used
attrib. with the sense ‘suitable for use on both road and railway’, or ‘accommodating a road and a railway’;
road-railer, a goods vehicle that can run on both road and rail (see
quot. 1964); a container which can be transported by both road and rail;
cf. Ro-Railer;
road rash slang, grazing caused by falling from a skateboard;
road roller, a heavy mechanical roller used for flattening road surfaces;
road-runner,
U.S., the paisano or chaparral cock;
road-running vbl. n., running on the roads for sport or exercise; also as
ppl. a.;
† road saddle, a riding-saddle;
road sense, capacity for intelligent handling of vehicles or coping with traffic on the road;
road show, a show given by touring actors or musicians,
usu. with the minimum of equipment and preparation; also
transf. and
attrib.; hence as
v. intr.;
road sweeper, (
a) a person who sweeps roads; (
b) a device for sweeping roads;
road train, a large lorry pulling one or more trailers;
road tunnel, a tunnel through which a road passes;
road-weed, the wayside plantain;
road-woodcock, one taken in a cock-road.
| 1867 W. H. Dixon New Amer. I. xiv. 168 *Road-agent is the name applied in the mountains to a ruffian who has given up honest work..for the perils and profits of the highway. 1881 Macm. Mag. XLV. 124 The great distances between the settlements enable the ‘road-agents’ to have a fine time of it. |
| 1894 Chamb. Jrnl. 346 Something very like a contemplated bit of *road-agenting business. |
| 1844 Niagara (Ontario) Chron. 29 May 2/2 A bill was introduced..entitled ‘An act to close up the *Road Allowance between Lots Nos. 42 and 43..in the township of Cayuga’. 1947 E. A. McCourt Music at Close 43 He..rode west along the road-allowance until he reached a part of the country which was new to him. 1958 J. G. MacGregor North-West of 16 ii. 27 He carefully stepped off this distance, which was the ‘road allowance’, and came to another great spruce at the exact corner of his land. 1973 Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 14 Mar. 3/1 In the 1783 survey of the lakefront townships, the provision had been made for a 60-foot road allowance across the front. |
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §124/2 *Road apples, horse dung. 1951 M. Spillane One Lonely Night v. 112 Smart? Sure, just like road apples that happen behind horses. 1970 J. H. Gray Boy from Winnipeg 53 The best pucks were always those supplied by passing horses, ‘road apples’ we called them. |
| 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 48/1 *Road band, a traveling unit. 1976 Casper (Wyoming) Star-Tribune 29 June 17/6 (Advt.), Wanted: vocalist for road band. 1977 Zigzag Mar. 2/1 Those guys had been my road band anyway. |
| 1887 Daily News 21 May 3/2 There were two *road-borne markets within 400 yards of the proposed new market. 1914 Kipling Years Between (1919) 78 That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company. 1973 Daily Tel. 10 Aug. 14 In 1971 road-borne freight amounted to 52,000 million ton-miles. |
| 1937 L. Hart Europe in Arms x. 120 The limitations of the large *road-bound coaches or lorries which compose such bus columns were made manifest. 1941 Washington Post 4 Sept. 12/5 Members of both divisions pointed today to powerful motor vehicles roadbound because of continuous rains. |
| 1874 J. G. McCoy Hist. Sk. Cattle Trade i. 7 The slight brand put on the stock at that time [when the herd is started to market over the trail] is called a *road brand, in contradistinction to the ranch brand, which is usually put on the animal when young. 1933 J. V. Allen Cowboy Lore ii. 44 When cattle were driven to market, it was easy for them to get mixed up with others, and this accounts for the road brand, used for rapid identification. 1955 W. Foster-Harris Look of Old West viii. 229 Unless a trail herd was under one brand, which ordinarily it wasn't, it was customary to road-brand the animals—that is, give them an extra insignia to identify them on their journey. |
| 1928 Daily Mail 31 July 13/3 One side of Kensington-road..is also in the hands of the *road-breakers. 1967 Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 39 Road breaker, a power driven tool for breaking up road pavements by impact. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 6 Nov. (Advt. Suppl.) 8/5 Road breakers, angle and straight girders, rock drills. |
| 1819 Massachusetts Spy 3 Nov. 2/3 A salute was fired from a *road-bridge by a detachment..of artillery. 1870 E. G. E. Ward Jrnl. 13 Sept. in D. P. Carew Many Years, Many Girls (1967) i. 16 He had heard the Road bridge blown up, and feared the railway would follow, and that I might not get out of Paris! 1935 Discovery Oct. 300/2 The new road-bridge over the Severn. 1976 Liverpool Echo 7 Dec. 17/5 The swim is downstream of the new road bridge over the River Dee at Eccleston. |
| 1900 Everybody'd Mag. II. 583/2 In the years of association which I have had..with ‘*road companies’ I have become familiar with the types. 1959 W. Faulkner Mansion ix. 205 The old road-company drammer reversed in gender: the frantic child clinging this time to the prospective groom's coattail. 1977 New Yorker 3 Oct. 129/1 The carryings-on of Gavino's mother, a road⁓company Anna Magnani in an Italian version of ‘Sons and Lovers’. |
| 1946 R. Capell Simiomata ii. 69 Evert himself drove him through the German *road-controls to..the east coast of Attica. 1966 M. R. D. Foot SOE in France x. 326 They were arrested by a road control that for once searched the greengrocer's lorry they were hidden in. |
| 1868 T. Wright Great Unwashed 265 The old tramp..has a beneficial knowledge of what may be called *road-craft. 1897 ‘H. S. Merriman’ In Kedar's Tents xii. 130 Conyngham learnt much of that road-craft which had raised Concep{cced}ion Vara to such a proud eminence among the rascals of Andalusia. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 9 Mirrors of polished steel, as used on the handlebars of motor-cycles, to give warning of roadcraft at the rear. 1934 Webster, Roadcraft.., skill or dexterity in driving on a road. 1963 Times 19 Feb. 11/3 What is wanted is a more radical reform in the driving test calculated to lift the standard of roadcraft as quickly as possible to the much higher level demanded by the scrum of the modern highway. 1974 Country Life 17 Oct. 1108 Apart from the roadcraft side, the mechanical side can pay dividends if one learns to use the car sympathetically. |
| 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 5/6 The threat is thought to follow Stewart's visit to Newcastle two years ago, when there was an incident at a city nightclub involving some of his *road crew. 1977 Sounds 9 July 19/2 We've got the best road crew we could find. |
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 222/2 *Road drift..is certainly by no means so good as fine sand. 1861 Fairbairn Iron 144 It is constructed of boiler plates, and lined with fire-brick, road-drift, or ‘ganister’. |
| 1934 S. Spender Poems (ed. 2) 41 At corners of day *Road drills explore new areas of pain. 1973 Scottish Sunday Express 5 Aug. 4/2 Clever dog to obey the road drill! 1976 ‘J. Fraser’ Who steals my Name? viii. 99 You've got the road drills outside your office... I can't hear myself think. |
| 1897 Boston Morning Jrnl. 4 Jan. 5/6 The half-mile track is convenient of access to *road drivers from the city. Ibid., The road driver frequently drives his own horse a trial mile. 1929 Sat. Even. Post 16 Nov. 41/3 R is for Road Driver, the name long-distance haulers give the lad that knows his cucumbers. 1973 Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 207 Road driver, driver who drives long distances. |
| 1923 Daily Mail 22 May 4 Hotels,..which set out to cater efficiently for the growing army of *roadfarers. 1961 Times 6 Sept. 13/4 There has even been a proposal to collar ‘roadfarer’ for drivers of private motor cars. |
| 1915 R. Wellbye (title) The *roadfaring handbook to inexpensive motor touring. 1925 Chambers's Jrnl. June 379/2 She would probably not average over 2 m.p.h., which seems almost incredible to a different section of the road-faring fraternity. |
| 1920 Act 10 & 11 Geo. V c. 72 Sched. 1, The definition of ‘roads’ shall be extended so as to include *road-ferries and foot⁓ways. |
| 1898 Engineering XVI. 66 A *road foreman of engines, or traveling engineer, who rides upon engines and instructs the enginemen and firemen. |
| 1793 Jrnl. House of Keys (I.O.M.) 18 Dec. (MS.), Several matters, which I would mention as worthy your Serious and frequent Consideration{ddd}1st. The *Road Fund. 1845 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. 19 Apr. 242/1 The whole together along with 69 steelyards, or cast-weighing machines, having cost the road fund not less than L. 10,000. 1920 Act 10 & 11 Geo. V c. 72 §3 There shall be established for the purposes of this Act,..a fund to be called the Road Fund. 1975 M. Simpson Chrome Connection vi. 143 Could I see your road fund licence, sir? |
| 1883 Cent. Mag. Oct. 927/2 His *road-glasses illuminate the wayside. |
| 1873 J. E. Lester Atlantic to Pacific v. 28 At this station..we shall see the ‘John Chinamen’ as *road-hands. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 264 Two men, who had contracted to act as road hands and to make themselves generally useful. |
| 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Coal-Mining 205 *Road-head (S[cottish]), see Gate-end. 1934 Webster, Roadhead, the end of a road (dial.). 1950 E. Mason Pract. Coal Mining I. viii. 121 (caption) Arrangement at the roadhead of a double unit face. 1958 J. C. F. Statham Coal Mining Pract. IV. iv. 244 About 30 per cent. of fatal and serious non-fatal accidents from falls occur at roadheads, i.e. the short length of roadway within 10 yd. of the working face. 1958 A. J. Toynbee East to West xlviii. 144 We rounded a corner and saw our car waiting for us at the road-head. 1976 Nature 12 Aug. 532/3, I..walked..back to the road⁓head. |
| 1969 New Scientist 27 Feb. 444/1 These four tunnels are being driven by the four *roadheading machines. Ibid., This method reduces the manpower needed for road⁓heading by about half. |
| 1965 Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 28 Dec. 24 (caption) *Road hockey was back in style Monday as these youngsters proved in a rough game played in Portsmouth during the afternoon. 1976 Ibid. 13 Feb. 22/1 A nearby road hockey game played with the numerous readily available road apples. |
| 1932 New Yorker 14 May 32/2 Great attention has been devoted to suspension and *road-holding. 1959 G. Freeman Jack would be Gentleman iii. 50 Sports cars are..better than the average family saloon—steering, road-holding, everything that adds up to real safety. 1975 Times 14 Mar. (Small Car Suppl.) p. ii/9 The Mini's greatest asset is probably its road-holding. |
| 1857 Borrow Romany Rye xxiii, The situation of ostler at my inn, the first *road-house in England. 1897 Outing XXX. 492/2 Valuable information as to routes,..distances and road-houses. 1936 O. Lancaster Progress at Pelvis Bay 63 Many..who..motor down..by way of the new Flush⁓brook By-pass, must be familiar with the..‘Hearts Are Trumps’ roadhouse. 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral i. 8 In peace-time it had been something of a road-house, with a snack-bar. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top x. 92 Four months in Warley had given me a fixed taste for either the roadhouse or the authentic country pub. 1972 D. Anthony Blood on Harvest Moon ii. 18 Across the highway was a roadhouse where, according to the sign, you could dine, dance, and drink. |
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 560/1 The only thing he [sc. the huntsman] can do is to..try every gateway and likely-looking spot where she [sc. the hare] may have turned off or lain down, but it is a mere matter of luck unless he has the real *road hunter. |
| 1977 Horse & Hound 14 Jan. 20/1 In the old days they [sc. foxes] probably ran the roads much more because they were quieter. The minor roads were not even tarmacked, with the result that you had your ‘*road hunting hounds’ much more frequently. |
| 1817 Sporting Mag. L. 30 The profits of the *Road Jobbers, namely the Guards and Drivers of Mail and other Coaches, will be at an end. |
| 1907 J. London Road 173 A boy on the Road..is never a gay-cat; he is a *road-kid or a ‘punk’. 1937 ‘D. Boyle’ Keeping in Trouble iii. 38 He was a ‘road-kid’, that is to say he found his company, within the great confederation of tramps, with youngsters of his own age or less. |
| 1902 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Dec. 12/1 A comedian who has seen so much of the unlovely side of ‘*road’ life that he might well be the writer of tragedies. |
| 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues viii. 93 He always wanted me to ride up with him..and sometimes Benny, our *road manager. 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 23a/3 Police..accused the road manager, who wasn't identified, of giving alcohol to a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old girl. |
| 1879 G. M. Hopkins Lett. to R. Bridges (1955) 77 The island was so Marian that the very Milky Way we made a *roadmark to that person's shrine. 1881 Lippincott's Mag. XXVII. 570/1 Every animal, besides the regular brand of the owner, has his tail bobbed and a ‘road-mark’ put upon him during the drive. 1908 Murray & Miller Round-Up 268 Having cut out the stock for the drive, a road mark, a supplementary brand for identification, is burned into the hides. |
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 383/2 The *road metal is then to be laid on, in two successive coats. 1884 Cent. Mag. XXIX. 48/1 A pile of stones broken to the size of road-metal. |
| 1871 Athenæum July 115 That form of *road-metalling..which in England is associated with the honourable name of Macadam. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 80 The materials are broken into cubes of two inches resembling road-metalling. |
| 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 249/1 The French guns up to the 6 in., and howitzers up to the 9.45 in. inclusive will be *road-mobile... All heavier natures will be on railway mountings. |
| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iv. i, Except small modicum of *roadmoney, not a gold coin in his possession. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1322 Road-money and schoolmaster's salary are also sometimes paid by the tenant. |
| 1895 Standard Dict. s.v. Road, *Road-monkey, a man employed by lumbermen in repairing logging roads. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 390/1 Finally, the ‘road-monkeys’, with shovels, remove the last appearance of a drift. |
| 1581 Act 23 Eliz. c. 10 §6 Others, which..take any Partridges or Feasaunts by night vnder any Tramel, Lowbell, *Roadenete or other Engyn. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 8 Apr. 6/3 The Saanich works committee last night authorized the purchase of {pstlg}7,000 worth of *road oil and one hundred tons of asphalt. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 1 July 1-c/3 Finally, the commission approved the purchase of 25,000 gallons of road oil from the state. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. pl. 22, I, I, are the way- (or *road-) panes, watered from the banks of the mains. |
| 1899 Kipling Stalky 252, I engineering myself..into command of a *road-patrol—no shovellin', only marching up and down. 1958 Cut Knife (Saskatchewan) Grinder 3 Apr. 1/6 In the Rural Municipality of Cut Knife, the burgesses were asked to vote upon Bylaw 12 authorizing the Council to purchase a new road patrol. 1963 Times 8 Jan. 11/1 Their road patrols say that many motorists are unaware that a dry cloth, or some paper handkerchiefs used to soak up the condensation or melted snow thrown over the sparking plugs, leads and distributor, could often save them from being stranded. 1970 R.A.C. Guide & Handbk. 39 Road Patrols..equipped with vans, are on daily duty. |
| 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 133/2 When the main ribs..rested on their centres, and before any of the spandrils and *road plates had been put upon them. |
| 1805 Colman John Bull i. i, Na; that be the *road post. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xix, At Marendellas..we passed one of the fortified road posts. |
| 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air i. 14 Even a *road-racer, geared to a hundred and twenty, failed to satisfy him. 1954 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Nov. 17/2 (heading) Road racers top 3 marks. 1976 Norwich Mercury 19 Nov. 12/1 For road racers and scramblers the financial drain is even worse. |
| 1927 Times 20 Dec. 11/3 The ‘*road-rail’ truck represents in a modified form the upper part of a railway wagon which can be exchanged between road and rail vehicles. 1963 Times 8 June 14/3 Two-day talks between British and French Government officials on whether there should be a Channel rail bridge or a road-rail tunnel ended in London yesterday. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 494/1 The works include..the rebuilding of 20 stations to create fully-equipped road-rail interchanges. |
| 1960 London Midland Region Staff News (Brit. Railways) Feb./Mar., The *Roadrailer..is similar in appearance to the normal tractor drawn semi-trailer seen on the roads. It differs in two respects, however. At the rear, there is a special device which retracts the road wheels and lowers a pair of rail wheels. At the front, a special coupling fits into the rear end of another similar trailer. 1964 Economist 15 Aug. 663/3 British Railways' latest ploy to attract traffic from the roads involves..freight wagons which ride the rails for most of the journey and then take to the roads as trailers to deliver goods directly to the customers' door⁓step. British Roadrailer Services is being set up as a joint company by British Railways and the Transport Holding Company to develop the use of these roadrailers. 1965 Ibid. 26 June 1559/2 The lorry people might make use of liner trains, or better, the new ‘roadrailers’ (of which they own half with the railways), for convenient loads of odd packages on the longer runs. |
| 1976 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 July 10/3 It is hard on both rider and wardrobe. Young skateboarders proudly show off their ‘*road rashes’. 1978 Skatcat's Quiz Bk. (R. Soc. Prevention of Accidents) 5 ‘Road rash’ isn't clever. As well as hurting for over a week, bad grazes or cuts are the signs of bad skateboarding. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 583/1 In Great Britain horse-rollers have to a great extent been superseded by steam *road rollers. 1971 Daily Nation (Nairobi) 10 Apr. 25/2 Tenders are invited for one three-wheel road roller. |
| 1856 Hutching's Mag. Nov. 201/2 The *Road-Runner is seldom seen in trees, unless pursued very closely. 1872 Coues N. American Birds 189 Ground Cuckoo. Chaparral Cock. Road Runner. 1885 Harper's Mag. Feb. 423/1 This bird is called scientifically the Geococcyx Californianus, but is popularly known under several other names, such as road-runner. 1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xix. 275 Not a thing to look at, on this so-called road, only cactus and chaparral and road-runners and those darned flowering aloes. 1972 G. Durrell Catch me a Colobus ix. 188 A Road-runner—a strange little bird with a crest and a long tail and enormous flat feet. |
| 1908 A. Shrubb Running x. 66 Of all forms of pedestrianism..there can be nothing superior to cross-country running... Track or *road running is apt to grow monotonous, however exciting it may be; but there is nothing monotonous in an open country run. 1934 V. Woolf Writer's Diary (1953) 216, I cannot without more labour than my roadrunning mind can compass describe the queer impression of sunny impersonality. 1962 Lydiard & Gilmour Run to Top viii. 68 Ordinary tennis shoes..don't cushion against the constant jarring of road running which can damage leg joints. 1976 Cumberland News 26 Nov., Go into the road running strongholds. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4784/4 Likewise a short *Road Saddle taken. |
| 1923 Daily Mail 10 Aug. 6/3 The good driver uses care instinctively because he has the imagination or ‘*road-sense’ which tells him instantly what he can and what he cannot do. 1947 J. Dean Murder Most Foul v. 98 Before the war the B.B.C. conceived the..idea of engaging racing drivers to give broadcasts on ‘road sense’. 1975 ‘M. Yorke’ Small Hours ii. 20 She was..bad at parking..though her road sense was good. |
| 1908 Variety 16 May 1 De Dio, a foreigner,..has been engaged by Martin Beck for his Orpheum *Road show next season. 1939 J. B. Priestley Let People Sing xiv. 412 I'm booking acts for a road-show. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §596/2 Go on tour,..road-show. 1959 Time 28 Sept. 32/3 Road-showing in Cole Porter's Can-Can in Toronto, the French singer-comedienne..had to negotiate a ramp leading out of the tent-theater. 1961 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 Nov. 3/2 The Kennedy Administration opened its road show to inform citizens across the country what's going on in Washington. 1976 J. McClure Rogue Eagle ii. 28 The sprained ankle which forced her to drop out of an American roadshow. 1977 Time 25 Apr. 52/1 Some were impressed more by the viewpoint espoused in the road-show tactics of Phyllis Schlafly, an Alton, Ill., housewife and an active Republican. |
| 1909 N.E.D. s.v. Roader1 4, A *road-sweeper. 1937 Times British Motor Number 13 Apr. p. xxxviii/2 The Karrier road sweeper..is also popular abroad. 1939 G. B. Shaw Geneva i. 16 The president and parliament are elected by adult suffrage every two years. So are all the judges and all the officials, even the road sweepers. 1973 Times 18 June 3/2 Teachers at a local school have been parking outside and thereby frustrating the mechanical road sweeper. |
| 1959 *Road train [see pedal-radio s.v. pedal n. 7]. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xxxi. 164 One of those heavy trucks with two trailers that they call ‘road trains’. 1977 ‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load i. 12 The driver of the Scania road train drew level with the cab of the British vehicle. |
| 1939 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 684/1 A project of a new *road tunnel through the St. Gothard. 1976 J. Lund Ultimate x. 91 The long road tunnels through the mountain got them there quickly. |
| 1857 Henfrey Bot. 330 Plantains or *Road-weeds, are among the commonest of our weeds on road-sides. |
| 1826 Polwhele Trad. & Recoll. II. 376 A couple of *road-woodcocks..for a shilling, and with a couple of road-woodcocks we had just been presented. |
▸
road bike n. a bicycle or motorcycle designed for use on paved roads, rather than for riding across country, on racing tracks, etc.
| 1949 Chicago Daily Tribune 3 June 10/2 The optimistic cycler selected a light English *road bike geared to make hill climbing easier. 1970 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 19 July 26/3 These trail bikes are definitely not road bikes when it comes to riding them on highways where traffic moves very fast. 1992 Men's Health July–Aug. 48/2 These versatile new machines combine the ruggedness and low gears of mountain bikes with the sleekness and speed of road bikes. 2006 SuperBike June 118 Al sees how he's converted the three-cylinder road bike into a fire-breathing supersport racer. |
▸
road hump n. orig. and chiefly
Brit. = sleeping policeman at
sleeping adj. 1f;
cf. speed hump n.,
speed bump n. at
speed n. Compounds 4.
| 1974 Times 24 July 4/7 The government would proceed with experiments in the use of ‘sleeping policemen’—*road humps to slow motorists. 1994 Guardian 24 Mar. i. 2/4 Ambulance drivers also complain that road humps slow vehicles in emergencies, where as little as 15 seconds delay can mean the difference between life and death. |
▪ II. road obs. variant of
rode, rope.
U.S.▪ III. road, v.1 (
rəʊd)
Also 7
rode.
[f. road n. The following apparent examples are very obscure, and may be due to misprints:—
1588 Parke
tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 114
The fashion of their ships, aswell of those that passe the seas, as of those that doo roade riuers. 1625 Purchas
Pilgrimes II. 1649
They are as it were halfe fishes, they are so vsed to the Sea, whither they goe daily either swimming or roading or sailing.]
† 1. intr. To make raids.
Obs. rare.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxxviii. xl. 1007 He gaue them warning, to leave their manner of roding and roving in hostile wise. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4724/3 The same Partisan having roaded some Days in this Neighbourhood with a strong Party,..all possible Precautions are taken. |
2. † a. trans. To traverse (a way).
Obs.—1| 1623 H. Sydenham Serm. Sol. Occ. ii. (1637) 19 Here is a large field offered mee,..but this is not my way, it is too trodden, every Hackney rodes it. |
b. To do (a distance) on the road.
U.S.| 1884 Boston (Mass.) Herald Mar., The horse..can road easy 10 miles per hour. |
c. to road it, to keep to, or go by, the road.
| 1893 Field 11 Feb. 192/1 A few came mounted, determined to ‘road it’ until they could without damage to the crops follow the hounds. |
▪ IV. road, v.2 (
rəʊd)
[Of doubtful origin; connexion with v.1 is not clear.] trans. Of a dog: To follow up (a game-bird) by the foot-scent. Also with
up, and
absol. (
Cf. the earlier
roader2.)
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports i. iv. 47/1 As retrievers do all their work by ‘roading’ or ‘footing’, they require that peculiar kind of nose. Ibid. 52/1 The dogs..must never be inclined to ‘foot’ or ‘road’ the birds till ordered. 1884 T. Speedy Sport Highl. xv. 269 Although a pointer may ‘road’ them up (and point at them), they often slip off again. 1892 Sport. & Dram. News 30 Jan. 678/1 Choleric..at the sight of his canine favourites..‘roading’ birds all over the place. 1894 Outing XXIV. 425/1 Juno..commenced roading down a potato furrow. |
Hence
ˈroading ppl. a.| c 1880 ‘Pathfinder’ Breaking & Training Dogs 8 A cross between a good roading foxhound and a..Gordon setter. |
▪ V. road, v.3 (to clear of weeds): see
rode v.
1▪ VI. road, v.4 (of woodcock or wild fowl): see
rode v.
2