railroad

rail·road

Use railroad in a sentence

railroad

a road laid with parallel steel rails along which cars carrying passengers or freight are drawn by locomotives
a complete system of such roads, including land, rolling stock, stations, etc.
the persons or corporation owning and managing such a system

to transport by railroad
Informal to rush through quickly, esp. so quickly as to prevent careful consideration: to railroad a bill through Congress
Slang to cause to go to prison on a trumped-up charge or with too hasty a trial

to work on a railroad

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MLA Style

"railroad." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Railroad>.

APA Style

railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Railroad

railroad

noun

A road composed of parallel steel rails supported by ties and providing a track for locomotive-drawn trains or other wheeled vehicles.
A system of railroad track, together with the land, stations, rolling stock, and other related property under one management.

verb

rail·road·ed, rail·road·ing, rail·roads

verb

transitive

To transport by railroad.
To supply (an area) with railroads.
Informal
a. To rush or push (something) through quickly in order to prevent careful consideration and possible criticism or obstruction: railroad a special-interest bill through Congress.
b. To convict (an accused person) without a fair trial or on trumped-up charges.

verb

intransitive

To work for a railroad company.

Related Forms:

rail′road′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"railroad." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Railroad>.

APA Style

railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Railroad

Noun

(plural railroads)

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
The transportation system comprising such roads and vehicles fitted to travel on the rails, usually with several vehicles connected together in a train.
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
(figuratively) A procedure conducted or bullied in haste without due consideration.
The lawyers made the procedure a railroad to get the signatures they needed.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present railroads, present participle railroading, simple past and past participle railroaded)

To transport via railroad.
(intransitive) To operate a railroad.
The Thatcherite experiment proved the private sector can railroad as inefficiently as a state monopoly
(intransitive) To work for a railroad.
(intransitive) To engage in a hobby pertaining to railroads.
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.
To convict of a crime by circumventing due process.
They could only convict him by railroading him on suspect drug-possession charges.
To procedurally bully someone into an unfair agreement.
He was railroaded into signing a non-disclosure agreement at his exit interview.