Definition of Railraad
Rail"road`, v. t. To carry or send
by railroad; usually fig., to send or put through at high speed or in
great haste; to hurry or rush unduly; as, to railroad a bill
through Condress. [Colloq., U. S.]
{ Rail"road` (rāl"rōd`), Rail"way` (-
wā`), } 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.
&fist; The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the
older tramway.
2. The road, track, etc., with all the lands,
buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and
constituting one property; as, a certain railroad has been put
into the hands of a receiver.
&fist; Railway is the commoner word in England;
railroad the commoner word in the United States.
&fist; 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. -- Ferry
railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform
runs, for 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
coöperation among certain active antislavery people in the United
States, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach
Canada. [In the latter sense railroad, and not
railway, was used.] "Their house was a principal
entrepôt of the underground railroad." W. D.
Howells.
Rail"road`, v. t. To carry or send
by railroad; usually fig., to send or put through at high speed or in
great haste; to hurry or rush unduly; as, to railroad a bill
through Condress. [Colloq., U. S.]
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get
away from where we are to where we are no better off. For this purpose
the railroad is held in highest favor by the optimist, for it permits
him to make the transit with great expedition.
- 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
- a transportation system consisting of metal rails and vehicles fitted to travel on the rails, usually with several vehicles connected together in a train.
- to transport via railroad.
- to operate a railroad.
- to engage in a hobby pertaining to railroads.
- slang: to adopt a law or prosecute a legal case with such rapidity or coercion that no effective opposition can occur. See also Kangaroo court
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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The correct Spelling of this word is: Railroad
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