tank car

noun

Updated on: 4 Apr 2018

Definition of tank car

: a railroad car for transporting liquids or gases in bulk

Recent Examples of tank car from the Web

Unfortunately, very few new tank cars have actually been put into use in recent years, and even cheaper retrofits have been slow.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "The Great Crude-Oil Fireball Test," 5 Feb. 2018
The bulk of the fleet carrying flammable liquids are the same old tank cars that were identified as part of the problem in previous accidents.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "The Great Crude-Oil Fireball Test," 5 Feb. 2018
The Virginia accident involved the same type of tank car and the same transport company, CSX, involved in this week’s West Virginia derailment.

— max kutner, Newsweek, "West Virginia Begins Investigating Massive Train Derailment," 20 Feb. 2015
The Holiday Express, decorated from tank car to caboose in twinkling lights, shiny ornaments, and toy trains, comes complete with Santa and a few elves.

— matt campbell, kansascity, "The Holiday Express is about to roll into Union Station. Here are the visiting hours," 14 Dec. 2017
Rail remains vulnerable to track wear and defects and single-walled tank cars that can be punctured in a crash.

— bart jansen, USA TODAY, "Experts urge railroads to improve tracks, tank cars for hazardous fuel shipments," 11 Oct. 2017
More frequent inspections are needed to prevent potentially catastrophic derailments of trains hauling oil and ethanol in which ruptured tank cars can produce giant fireballs, the scientific organization said in a report this month.

— jeff martin, USA TODAY, "Railroad sues over millions of rail ties it calls defective," 30 Oct. 2017

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