: 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
railroaded; railroading; railroads
1
a
: 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
: to work for a railroad company
railroader
noun
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
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 24 Oct. 2025
Set in the early 20th-century Pacific Northwest, the film stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a solitary railroad worker navigating profound personal loss as the American frontier expands around him.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
Rice was not railroaded by an unfair system but rather is the product of its benefit to those with means to have the ability to fully and adequately defend themselves.
—Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for railroad
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Noun
As both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern state their case for the merger, both railroads ended their third quarter with flat volumes on light revenue growth.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 24 Oct. 2025
Set in the early 20th-century Pacific Northwest, the film stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a solitary railroad worker navigating profound personal loss as the American frontier expands around him.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
Comey can try to railroad everyone in Trump World into prison over nothing — good!
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
Rice was not railroaded by an unfair system but rather is the product of its benefit to those with means to have the ability to fully and adequately defend themselves.
—Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for railroad
Cite this Entry
“Railroad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/railroad. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
railroad
1 of 2 noun
rail·road
ˈrā(ə)l-ˌrōd 
1
: a permanent road that has parallel steel rails which make a track for cars
2
: a railroad together with the lands, buildings, locomotives, cars, and other equipment that belong to it
railroad
2 of 2 verb1
a
: to send by railroad
b
: to work on a railroad
2
a
: to push (as a bill) through a legislature in a rush
b
: to convict and send to prison without much evidence or by means of false charges
railroader
noun
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