English

Conga line of snowplows

Noun

conga line ‎(plural conga lines)

1. A line of people dancing the conga.
2. (Canada, northern US, figuratively) A moving formation of snowplows and/or similar equipment, arranged in a diagonal line across a multilane highway, airport runway, or other roadway, such that the snow from the first vehicle is passed to the second, and then from the second to third, and so on, thereby clearing much or all of the route's width in a single pass.
   • 1968, Arthur Hailey, Airport, Doubleday, p. 56:

     It was a pity, Mel Bakersfeld reflected, that runway snow teams were not on more public view. . . . Airport men called the group a Conga Line.

   • 1999, Amanda Jelowicki, "Heavy going: Road crews will be out till Thursday to clean up first big snowfall," The Gazette (Montreal, Canada), 5 Jan., p. A3:

     Plows, snowblowers and dump trucks have formed their winter conga lines, and most Montreal Island cities say they'll have streets and sidewalks cleared of snow by Thursday.

   • 1999, "Welcome to Spin City: Heavy Snow Highlights Drivers' Bad Judgement," Toronto Star (Canada), 16 Jan., p. W1:

     The trip took longer than usual–following the snow plow conga line, and dodging spinning Expeditions and Jimmys as they pirouetted off the road.

   • 2000, "Snow Cleanup Choreographed," Worcester Telegram Gazette, 26 Jan:

     On highways such as I190 and I290 a conga line lets plows make a clean sweep from curbline to curbline on one pass he said.

   • 2001 Feb. 22, Matthew L. Wald, "Getting Snow Off Runways," New York Times (retrieved 13 Aug. 2011):

     The plows move in a "conga line," one tossing snow to the next.

Anagrams

• congenial