Definition of Railway

1. Noun. Line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight.

2. Noun. A line of track providing a runway for wheels. "He walked along the railroad track"
Exact synonyms: Railroad, Railroad Track
Specialized synonyms: Broad Gauge, Gantlet, Narrow Gauge, Railroad Siding, Sidetrack, Siding, Turnout, Standard Gauge, Switch
Group relationships: Line, Rail Line, Railway Line
Terms within: Crosstie, Railroad Tie, Sleeper, Tie, Rail, Rails, Runway, Track
Generic synonyms: Track
Derivative terms: Railroad, Railroad

Definition of Railway

1. Noun. A track, consisting of parallel rails, over which wheeled vehicles may travel. ¹

2. Noun. A transport system using these rails used to move passengers or goods. ¹

¹ Source:

Definition of Railway

1. a railroad [n -WAYS]

Medical Definition of Railway

1. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure. The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway. 2. The road, track, etc, with al the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc, pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver. Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States. In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. Perry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, fro carrying a train of cars across a water course. Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. Railway slide. See Transfer table. Railway spine, an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterised by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. Underground railroad or railway. A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city. Formerly, a system of cooperation among certain active antislavery people in the United States, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada. Origin: In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was used] "Their house was a principal entrepot of the underground railroad." . Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Railway Pictures


Lexicographical Neighbors of Railway

railroad train
railroad tramp
railroad truck
railroad tunnel
railroad vine
railroad worm
railway (current term)
railway car
railway carriage
railway carriages
railway gun
railway guns
railway junction
railway line
railway lines
railway locomotive
railway man
railway sleeper
railway station
railway stations
railway system

Literary usage of Railway


1. The Law Reports by James Redfoord Bulwer (1872)
"North Eastern railway Company, and all the interest in the railways, «Sec., vested in the appellants. ' expended large sums in widening, levelling, ..."

"In 1878 the road was sold under foreclosure and reorganized as The Chesapeake & Ohio railway Company. In 1892, the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy ..."

"The southernmost line is that of Antofagasta (Chile) and Bolivia railway, ... From Oruro the Bolivia railway, leased by the Antofagasta railway, ..."

4. Dictionary of National Biography by LESLIE. STEPHEN (1886)
"SLL BRASSEY, THOMAS (1805-1870), railway contractor, was born on 7 Nov. 1805 at Buerton, Aldford, Cht shire. The Brasseys claimed to have lived for ' nearly ..."

5. Journal by Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain) (1858)
"Bast Suffolk railway (Capital and Branch railway); 14. Chiswick Improvement; 15. ... Aberdeen, Peterhead, and Fraserburgh railway; IS. Caledonian railway ..."

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