Clapham Junction
nounUK /klæpəm d͡ʒʌŋkʃən/
1
Figuratively Somewhere where many paths – either literal routes of travel or metaphorical lines – cross.
- When they had reached this Clapham Junction of the local highway system, Mr. Hayward halted a moment in doubt , and pointed ahead inquiringly to one out of the three main routes that branched off in various directions .1896, Grant Allen, Under Sealed Orders: A Novel, page 49:
- Dr. F. W. BUNTING favours more rigid isolation of actual cases and avoidance of large assemblies - particularly children's film matinées which he described as a Clapham Junction for virus dissemination.1948, The Lancet, page 114:
3 more examples
- The mouth of the Atlantic, between Ushant and the South of Ireland, is a Clapham Junction of the ocean trade routes.1953, Investors Chronicle and Money Market Review:
- All these can be grasped in half an hour by those who want to understand more clearly this Clapham Junction of the sciences that we call the digital computer.1967, New Society:
- Lizzie's face is a Clapham Junction of lines, wrinkles, shadows and tunnelling dirt.2007, Miranda Miller, Loving Mephistopheles, Peter Owen Publishers: