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Definition 2025
sawdust_trail
sawdust trail
English
Noun
sawdust trail (plural sawdust trails)
- (idiomatic, dated) The route followed by an itinerant Christian preacher in the United States.
- 1935, Nov. 7, "Billy Sunday Dies; Evangelist Was 71; Former Ball Player Induced Thousands To 'hit Sawdust Trail' To Conversion", New York Times:
- The Rev. William A. (Billy) Sunday, one of the most noted evangelists of the old "sawdust trail," died suddenly tonight of a heart attack in the home of his brother-in-law, William J. Thompson, a florist.
- 1935, Nov. 7, "Billy Sunday Dies; Evangelist Was 71; Former Ball Player Induced Thousands To 'hit Sawdust Trail' To Conversion", New York Times:
- (idiomatic, by extension, dated) The path to spiritual redemption or salvation, especially as involving attendance at Christian revival meetings presided over by itinerant preachers in the United States.
- 1920, William MacLeod Raine, The Big-Town Round-Up, ch. 3:
- Mr. Bernstein explained that this was not obligatory. All he meant was that the suit was good enough to be married in, or for that matter to be buried in.
- "Or to be born anew in when Billy Sunday comes to town and I hit the sawdust trail," suggested the purchaser.
- 1920, William MacLeod Raine, The Big-Town Round-Up, ch. 3:
Synonyms
See also
References
- sawdust trail at OneLook Dictionary Search