hub-and-spoke system
1
5.8
- noun
- /hʌb ənd spoʊk ˈsɪstəm/
- Specialized
:
sistema de radio y radio
- make a hub-and-spoke system
Examples
-
In a hub-and-spoke system, elements of protection are far more fundamental because they run right through the system, leaving protection between all of the spoke countries and therefore much more damaging.
Academic text (1991) -
The airline's<br>hub-and-spoke system allows passengers to connect easily at central airports for long-distance flights.
-
In a<br>hub-and-spoke system, smaller regional airports feed passengers to major hub airports for their international journeys.
-
Many carriers use a<br>hub-and-spoke system to efficiently manage flight connections and maximize passenger numbers.
Synonyms
1
5.2
A transport system where local routes meet at a central place, like an airport, for long trips
1
7.1
Organizing routes so they go through a main hub like an airport
How Centralized
- Specialized
1
5.8
647
2.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
hub-and-spoke + system
The phrase is transparently built from 'hub' (a central point) + 'spoke' (radial connections) + 'system' (an organized set), so its meaning — a network organized around a central hub with connecting routes — follows directly from the constituents and the familiar wheel metaphor. Although somewhat technical, this compositional structure is predictable and likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows the component words.
Etymology
Hub-and-spoke system comes from the picture of a wheel: the hub is the center and the spokes are the lines that go out from it. So in transport, small routes are like the spokes that 'connect' towns to one main airport, the hub, which is why the phrase means a system where many local routes feed a central point.