railroad

rail·road | \ ˈrāl-ˌrōd

, ˈrel-; ˈre-ˌrōd

Definition of railroad

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a permanent road having a line of rails fixed to ties and laid on a roadbed and providing a track for cars or equipment drawn by locomotives or propelled by self-contained motors also : such a road and its assets constituting a single property

railroad

verb

railroaded; railroading; railroads

Definition of railroad (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to convict with undue haste and by means of false charges or insufficient evidence

b : to push through hastily or without due consideration

2 : to transport by railroad

intransitive verb

: to work for a railroad company

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Examples of railroad in a Sentence

Noun that railroad hasn't been used for passenger trains for decades Verb a controversial law that is being railroaded through Congress a bill that was railroaded into law They claim she was railroaded.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The museum is chock-full of railroad artifacts, photographs and information. — Roger Naylor, azcentral, "Free things to do in Tucson: 10 activities you can do with no money," 16 Jan. 2020 But with sweeping views of towering rock features, ruins of historic railroad towns, and some of the biggest trees in the world, these trails are all bucket-list worthy on their own merits. — Emily Pennington, Outside Online, "The 25 Best Accessible Trails in America," 15 Jan. 2020 Stevenson, once a lively railroad hub, is now riddled with vacant storefronts and empty lots. — Elizabeth Flock, The New Yorker, "How Far Can Abused Women Go to Protect Themselves?," 13 Jan. 2020 Democratic candidates for various offices in and around the Houston area, including state board of education, judge and railroad commissioner positions, came to the Cy-Fair Area Democrats meeting on Dec. 9 to inform the group about their platforms. — Chevall Pryce, Houston Chronicle, "Democratic congressional candidates take on Trump, Rep. Dan Crenshaw," 10 Jan. 2020 The area where the meat-packing plant once was is now a vacant strip of land between Spring Grove Avenue and a railroad yard. — Chris Mayhew, Cincinnati.com, "Ornate Kahn's plant gates back: Rhinegeist said removal was 'honest mistake' by scrap man," 8 Jan. 2020 The coal and railroad industry are appealing their case, hoping to get better luck from a federal appeals court after a district court upheld Washington’s denial of a permit for the project based on negative environmental impacts. — Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner, "Daily on Energy: Parsing House Democrats’ big climate push," 8 Jan. 2020 Buffett loves the transportation sector, and Berkshire already owns railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. — Paul R. La Monica, CNN, "Here's what could be on Warren Buffett's 2020 shopping list," 7 Jan. 2020 In the 1960s, the freeway system was built parallel to the railroad corridor, followed by the construction and later expansion of Sky Harbor airport in the 1970s and 1980s. — Erin Stone, azcentral, "Winter air really is worse in south, west Phoenix. Here's why," 31 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (whose many credits include Going Clear and Sinatra: All or Nothing at All) tweaks a common documentary formula — little guy who gets railroaded. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "The Sickening Power of Putin," 15 Jan. 2020 The evidence that the young protégé of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was railroaded by his political opponents in the Colombian judiciary is overwhelming. — Mary Anastasia O’grady, WSJ, "Drug War Deception," 23 June 2019 His efforts include trying to free an Alabama man, Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx), who's been railroaded by a system stacked against him. — Isaac Feldberg, Fortune, "What to Watch (and Skip) in Theaters and on Netflix This Weekend," 27 Dec. 2019 Others however see Bercow's interventions as a good thing, making sure lawmakers are not railroaded by parliamentary convention that has historically been used to let the government have its way. — Alexander Smith, NBC News, "'Order!' John Bercow, House of Commons speaker, is standing down," 31 Oct. 2019 Along the way, the prince has railroaded changes in the kingdom’s social order that seemed out of reach not that long ago, including the removal of the country’s notorious religious police. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, "Women in Saudi Arabia allowed to travel independently," 2 Aug. 2019 Tennessee appears to have figured out something of a winning formula in recent weeks, with Derrick Henry railroading opposing defenses and Ryan Tannehill giving the Titans consistency at quarterback. — Scott Horner, Indianapolis Star, "NFL Week 13 predictions: Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans try to stay alive in AFC playoff race," 28 Nov. 2019 Courts have consistently found that right-of-way uses should further railroad purposes, Wu wrote. — Bettina Boxall, latimes.com, "Court throws out federal approval of Cadiz water pipeline," 21 June 2019 Despite a lack of evidence, Banks is railroaded through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "9 TV Shows, Movies, and Music Moments to Check Out This Week," 4 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'railroad.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

20 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Railroad.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/railroad. Accessed 23 January 2020.

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More Definitions for railroad

railroad

noun