English

Noun

double yellow line ‎(plural double yellow lines)

1. (Britain) A pair of yellow lines painted at the side of a road to show that parking is not permitted at any time.

   1995 Nina Fletcher, Janet Holt, "Ethics, law, and nursing"

   • The person who parked their car on the double yellow line may be a doctor who has been called urgently to the house of a critically ill patient ...

   1998 Ruth Gairns, Stuart Redman, "True to life: English for adult learners.

   • I'm sorry, you were parking on a double yellow line, you've got a ticket.

   1999 Ruth Rendell, "A site for sore eyes"

   • He knew it would be risky parking on a double yellow line, or even a single yellow line, at this hour, but in a side street off the back of Kensington Church Street he found areas demarcated on the roadway with white lines.

   2001 Julian Symons, "A Three-Pipe Problem"

   • When he reached the street Claber and the girl were crossing the road to a Mercedes coupé, parked on a double yellow line.

2. A pair of yellow lines painted along the middle of a road to show that traffic should not cross into the oncoming lane

   1987 Popular Science (May)

   • The photo on pages 22 and 23 of your February issue shows the driver of a Chevy Beretta topping a hill and rounding a curve on the wrong side of a double yellow line.

   1998 Jack C. Richards, Jonathan Hull, Susan Proctor, "New interchange: English for international communication"

   • Police officer: Well, for one thing, you went over a double yellow line back there to pass a car.

   2000 Bob Bondurant, Edwin J. Sanow, "Bob Bondurant on police and pursuit driving"

   • Hutchison observed the Buick cross the double yellow line to pass a car at the bottom of a dip.

See also

• single yellow line