Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In coal-mining, a second shift or relay of hewers who begin cutting the coal after another set have begun to draw it, at the same place.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Many grammar texts give the standard advice that you should “back-shift” the verb tenses.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Aiming on Moving Targets at the Lake Michigan 2007
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If you had just asked a colleague where he was last week, and gotten the answer about Mexico, it’s unlikely you’d relay this with a tense back-shift; it’s at least as likely that you’d say “he said he was in Mexico”.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Aiming on Moving Targets at the Lake Michigan 2007
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