standing room

English

Alternative forms

• standing-room

Noun

standing room (uncountable)

1. Space in a public area, e.g. on public transport or at a sports or entertainment venue, for people to stand

   The bus was packed, and all standing room was taken.

   • 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 715:

     Since then we have had the opportunity to travel in them and were much impressed by the internal styling and comfort of the seating (with the minor exception of the single seats which have been tucked in longitudinally alongside some of the entrance vestibules and which are so cramped that only the slimmest of female figures could be comfortable in them; the space they occupy would have been better utilised to increase standing room).

Derived terms

• standing room only

References

• “standing room”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.