Adjacent Words

railway definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight [syn: railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway system]
2: a line of track providing a runway for wheels; "he walked along the railroad track" [syn: railroad track, railroad, railway]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1812 railroad; especially a railroad operating with light equipment or within a small area

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a track or set of tracks made of steel rails upon which goods trucks and passenger trains run. 2 such a system worked by a single company (Great Western Railway). 3 the organization and personnel required for its working. 4 a similar set of tracks for other vehicles etc. Phrases and idioms: railway-yard the area where rolling-stock is kept and made up into trains.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Railroad Rail"road`, Railway Rail"way`, n. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure. Note: The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway. 2. The road, track, etc., with al the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver. Note: Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States. Note: In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See under Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. Perry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, fro carrying a train of cars across a water course. Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. [U.S.] Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. [Eng.] Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. Railway slide. See Transfer table, under Transfer. Railway spine (Med.), an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterized by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, -- the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. Underground railroad or railway. (a) A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city. (b) Formerly, a system of co["o]peration among certain active antislavery people in the United States, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada. Note: [In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was used.] ``Their house was a principal entrep[^o]t of the underground railroad.'' --W. D. Howells.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Railroad Rail"road`, Railway Rail"way`, n. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure. Note: The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway. 2. The road, track, etc., with al the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver. Note: Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States. Note: In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See under Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. Perry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, fro carrying a train of cars across a water course. Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. [U.S.] Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. [Eng.] Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. Railway slide. See Transfer table, under Transfer. Railway spine (Med.), an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterized by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, -- the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. Underground railroad or railway. (a) A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city. (b) Formerly, a system of co["o]peration among certain active antislavery people in the United States, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada. Note: [In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was used.] ``Their house was a principal entrep[^o]t of the underground railroad.'' --W. D. Howells.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Underground Un"der*ground`, a. 1. Being below the surface of the ground; as, an underground story or apartment. 2. Done or occurring out of sight; secret. [Colloq.] Underground railroad or railway. See under Railroad.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(railways) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A railway is a route between two places along which trains travel on steel rails. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use railroad) The road ran beside a railway. ...a disused railway line. N-COUNT 2. A railway is a company or organization that operates railway routes. (BRIT; in AM, use railroad) ...the state-owned French railway. ...the privatisation of the railways. N-COUNT 3. A railway is the system and network of tracks that trains travel on. (mainly AM) N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

L, branch, cable railway, cog railway, el, electric railway, elevated, elevated railway, embankment, feeder, feeder line, gravity-operated railway, horse railway, junction, light railroad, line, main line, metro, monorail, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway, rail, rail line, railroad, roadbed, roadway, sidetrack, siding, street railway, streetcar line, subway, switchback, terminal, terminus, track, train, tram, tramline, trestle, trolley line, trunk, trunk line, tube, turnout, underground