rubbernecking en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈɹʊbɚˌnɛkɪŋ/
Etymology
From rubber + neck + -ing.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The act of slowing down while driving a vehicle, in order to see the scene of an accident.
"The resulting wreckage blocks the entire southbound side of the Interstate, while the inevitable rubbernecking slows traffic on the northbound side to little more than the speed of a brisk walk."
2004, Robert G. Ferrell, Tangent: A Novel, →ISBN, page 131:
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(uncountable) Generally, any act of observation in a manner considered unduly overt or otherwise unseemly.
The children had never been in such a large museum and their rubbernecking was rather amusing.
Translations (7)
de Spannen (unseemly act of observation) · de Gaffen (slowing down to see the scene of an accident) · es curiosear (slowing down to see the scene of an accident) · fr faire le badaud (slowing down to see the scene of an accident) · es cotilleo (unseemly act of observation) · de Gaffen (unseemly act of observation) · nl ramptoerisme (unseemly act of observation)