Definitions for railroad
ˈreɪlˌroʊdrail·road

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway systemnoun

   line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight

2. railroad track, railroad, railwayverb

   a line of track providing a runway for wheels

   "he walked along the railroad track"

3. dragoon, sandbag, railroadverb

   compel by coercion, threats, or crude means

   "They sandbagged him to make dinner for everyone"

4. railroadverb

   supply with railroad lines

   "railroad the West"

5. railroadverb

   transport by railroad

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. railroadnoun

   A permanent road consisting of fixed metal rails to drive trains or similar motorized vehicles on.

   Many railroads roughly follow the trace of older land - and/or water roads

2. railroadnoun

   The transportation system comprising such roads and vehicles fitted to travel on the rails, usually with several vehicles connected together in a train.

3. railroadnoun

   A single, privately or publicly owned property comprising one or more such roads and usually associated assets

   Railroads can only compete fully if their tracks are technically compatible with and linked to each-other

4. railroadnoun

   A procedure conducted or bullied in haste without due consideration.

   The lawyers made the procedure a railroad to get the signatures they needed.

5. railroadverb

   To transport via railroad.

6. railroadverb

   To operate a railroad.

   The Thatcherite experiment proved the private sector can railroad as inefficiently as a state monopoly

7. railroadverb

   To work for a railroad.

8. railroadverb

   To engage in a hobby pertaining to railroads.

9. railroadverb

   To manipulate and hasten a procedure, as of formal approval of a law or resolution.

   The majority railroaded the bill through parliament, without the customary expert studies which would delay it till after the elections.

10. railroadverb

    To convict of a crime by circumventing due process.

    They could only convict him by railroading him on suspect drug-possession charges.

11. railroadverb

    To procedurally bully someone into an unfair agreement.

    He was railroaded into signing a non-disclosure agreement at his exit interview.

12. Etymology: From rail + road.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. railroad

   Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electric power from a railway electrification system or produce their own power, usually by diesel engines or, historically, steam engines. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system. Railways are a safe land transport system when compared to other forms of transport. Railway transport is capable of high levels of passenger and cargo utilisation and energy efficiency, but is often less flexible and more capital-intensive than road transport, when lower traffic levels are considered. The oldest known, man/animal-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC in Corinth, Greece. Rail transport then commenced in mid 16th century in Germany in the form of horse-powered funiculars and wagonways. Modern rail transport commenced with the British development of the steam locomotive in Merthyr Tydfil when Richard Trevithick ran a steam locomotive and loaded wagons between Penydarren Ironworks and Abercynon in 1802. Thus the railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world. Built by George Stephenson and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 is the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George Stephenson also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use only the steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened in 1830. With steam engines, one could construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods, compared with water transport, which faced occasional sinking of ships. The change from canals to railways allowed for "national markets" in which prices varied very little from city to city. The spread of the railway network and the use of railway timetables, led to the standardisation of time (railway time) in Britain based on Greenwich Mean Time. Prior to this, major towns and cities varied their local time relative to GMT. The invention and development of the railway in the United Kingdom was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century. The world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway (part of the London Underground), opened in 1863. In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, leading to electrification of tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by the 2000s. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan and later in some other countries. Many countries are in the process of replacing diesel locomotives with electric locomotives, mainly due to environmental concerns, a notable example being Switzerland, which has completely electrified its network. Other forms of guided ground transport outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use. Following a decline after World War II due to competition from cars and aeroplanes, rail transport has had a revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO2 emissions in the context of concerns about global warming.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Railroadnoun

   alt. of Railway

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Railroad

   Railroad is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 278 at the 2010 census.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. railroad

   A type of transportation structure and system.

   The railroad works efficiently and provides an effective and efficient transport system.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 11, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Coerce
   • Supply
   • Transport

How to pronounce railroad?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say railroad in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of railroad in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of railroad in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of railroad in a Sentence

1. Theodore Roosevelt:

   A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.

2. Ezra Yemin:

   Some of the railroad companies are not as attuned or as receptive to this idea like they were four, five years ago.

3. Ryan Zinke:

   We meet in the office, we go out to dinner, we talk about the background of the park. What are the neighbors like, what was the vision of the park, where the boundaries are, where the water table is because the water table has changed over time. What the railroad is. So they have the background.

4. John Boehner:

   I'm in full agreement this is not the way to run a railroad, but remember the alternative.

5. Mike DeWine:

   There’s been a concern by citizens, very understandably, that the railroad started, got the tracks back on and started running and the soil under the tracks had not been dealt with, so, under the administrator’s order, that soil will be removed. So the tracks will have to be taken up and that soil will have to be removed.

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