town S1 W1 / taʊn / 名词
1 place [可数名词] a large area with houses, shops, offices etc where people live and work, that is smaller than a city and larger than a village :
an industrial town in the Midlands
town of
the town of Norwalk, Connecticut
I walked to the nearest town.
2 main centre [不可数名词] the business or shopping centre of a town :
We’re going into town tonight to see a film.
They have a small apartment in town.
3 people [单数形式] all the people who live in a particular town :
The whole town turned out to watch the procession.
4 where you live [不可数名词] the town or city where you live :
Cam left town about an hour ago, so he should be out at the farm by now.
I’ll be out of town for about a week.
Guess who’s in town ? Jodie’s sister!
Do you know of a good place to eat? I’m from out of town (= from a different town ) .
We’re moving to another part of town.
5 village [可数名词] American English several houses forming a small group around a church, shops etc 同义词 village British English :
Rowayton is a small town of around 4000 people.
6 not country the town life in towns and cities in general :
Which do you prefer, the town or the country?
7 go to town (on something) informal to do something in a very eager or thorough way :
Angela really went to town on buying things for her new house.
8 (out) on the town informal going to restaurants, bars, theatres etc for entertainment in the evening :
Frank is taking me out for a night on the town .
9 town and gown used to describe the situation in which the people living in a town and the students in a town seem to be separate and opposing groups
→ ghost town , home town , → paint the town (red) at paint 2 ( 5 )
COLLOCATIONS
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + town
small/big I grew up in a small town in Iowa. | The nearest big town is 20 miles away.
a little town a pretty little town in the French Alps
a major town It is one of the UK’s biggest retailers with shops in every major town.
busy/bustling The town was busy even in November.
quiet The town is quiet in the summer. | Cannigione is a quiet little town with a scattering of shops, restaurants and cafes.
sleepy (= very quiet, with not much happening ) Johnson grew up in the sleepy retirement town of Asheville.
a historic/ancient town Visitors can go on a tour of this historic town.
an industrial town Thousands moved to the newly forming industrial towns to work in the mills.
a seaside town young people looking for seasonal work in seaside towns
a provincial town (= one that is not near the capital ) Many provincial towns were transformed by the coming of the railway.
a market town (= a town in Britain where there is a regular outdoor market ) The pretty market town of Ashbourne is only 9 miles away.
sb’s home town (= the town where someone was born ) He was buried in his home town of Leeds.
a new town (= one of several towns built in Britain since 1946 ) The design of Milton Keynes and other new towns proved unpopular.
短语
the centre of town/the town centre British English , the center of town/the town center American English The hotel was right in the center of town.
the outskirts/edge of a town It was six o’clock when she reached the outskirts of the town.
THESAURUS
place with houses, shops, and offices
city a large area with houses, shops, offices etc that is often the centre of government for an area. A city is bigger than a town : The nearest big city is San Francisco.
town a large area with houses, shops, offices etc. A town is smaller than a city : La Coruña is a pretty seaside town.
capital ( also capital city ) the city where the government of a country or state is : We travelled to Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
metropolis a big busy city that is full of people and activity : After 1850 Paris grew quickly into a busy metropolis.
urban 形容词 [仅用于名词前] relating to towns and cities : Air pollution is particularly bad in urban areas. | urban development