railroad

1 of 2

noun

rail·​road ˈrāl-ˌrōd 

ˈrel-;

ˈre-ˌrōd 

: 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

2 of 2

verb

railroaded; railroading; railroads

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

: to work for a railroad company

railroader noun

Synonyms

Noun

• rail
• railway
• road

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 mythology surrounding James himself likewise had many authors, all converging toward portraying him as a dashing foe of the bankers and railroad barons who had come to represent the inequities of America’s Gilded Age. —Joshua Hunt, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025

By the 1950s, the railroad’s checkerboard sections of the Palm Springs area became wealthy and white while the Agua Caliente’s checkerboard sections on the reservation became the home of comparatively poorer Tribal communities. —Michael Albertus, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025

Verb

Jen, among others, is trying to railroad Karen Read into prison for allegedly running over her Boston cop boyfriend. —Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 22 May 2024

But in April 2010, Yanukovych railroaded the Kharkiv Accords through parliament, which extended the fleet’s rights through 2042 -- although Ukraine’s official foreign policy strategy released in July 2010 still maintained that the country intended to pursue non-bloc status. —Taras Kuzio, Foreign Affairs, 13 Mar. 2014

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1757, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1829, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing railroad

• railroad bridge
• railroad crossing
• railroad flat
• railroad worm

Kids 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 verb

1

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