back seat
back seat — 名詞
1. the row of seats inside a car that sits behind the driver and the front passenge
後座
汽車前座後方的座位
the row of seats inside a car that sits behind the driver and the front passenger.
Hana buckled her twins into the back seat before the long drive home.
Hana 在長途返家前，先把雙胞胎扣進後座的安全座椅。
in the back seat for where passengers sit
The two dogs slept on the back seat the whole way to the beach.
兩隻狗在前往海邊的路上，整路都睡在後座。
Mateo found his lost phone wedged under the back seat of the taxi.
Mateo 發現他遺失的手機卡在計程車的後座底下。
Please climb into the back seat so the children can sit up front with me.
請坐到後座，這樣孩子們才能坐到前面陪我。
The grocery bags slid across the back seat every time the car turned.
每次車子轉彎，那些雜貨袋就在後座上滑來滑去。
- rear seat
more formal; common in car manuals and reviews
- front seat
the row beside or holding the driver
文法句型
in the back seat
the back seat of [a vehicle]
用法筆記
Almost always used with 'the' and the preposition 'in' (sit in the back seat). Distinguish from sense 2, which is figurative and never refers to a real chair.
常見錯誤
2. a situation in which someone or something is treated as having little importance
次要地位
被當成不重要、受到較少關注的處境
a situation in which someone or something is treated as having little importance and is given less attention than other things.
After the baby arrived, Noor's painting hobby was pushed into the back seat.
寶寶出生後，Noor 的繪畫嗜好就被擱到一旁、變得不重要了。
figurative: pushed into the back seat = made less important
During the crisis, long-term planning took a back seat to daily survival.
危機期間，長期規劃只能讓位給每天的生存問題。
take a back seat to [something]
Sven let his own career take a back seat while he cared for his sick mother.
Sven 在照顧生病的母親期間，讓自己的事業退居次要。
Once profit became the goal, worker safety was forced into the back seat.
一旦利潤成了目標，員工安全就被迫退到次要地位。
In the new plan, fancy design takes a back seat to lower prices for buyers.
在新方案裡，華麗的設計被擺到次要，價格能更低才是重點。
- second place
stresses ranking below something else
- the sidelines
stresses being kept out of the action
- priority
the thing treated as most important
文法句型
take a back seat
take a back seat to [something]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this meaning never points to a real chair, and it almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'take a back seat (to)'.