switchyard

[ swich-yahrd ]

noun
  1. a railroad yard in which rolling stock is distributed or made up into trains.

Origin of switchyard

1
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; switch + yard2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use switchyard in a sentence

  • At the bank above the switch-yard he paused, keeping in a shadow, and looked here and there.

  • Snorky proudly brought forth a diagram which to Skippy's bewildered gaze looked like the cross section of a switch yard.

    Skippy Bedelle | Owen Johnson
  • Thank Gawd, there was a back door openin' on a dark alley leadin' to the switch yard.

    Excuse Me! | Rupert Hughes
  • Just at the intersection of Bean Alley and the switch-yard, where the dusk banked up densely in the corners, he stopped again.

    A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill | Alice Hegan Rice
  • With watchful eyes for passers-by, he slipped through an opening in the fence, and entered the switch-yard.

    A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill | Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for switch yard

switch yard

noun
  1. US and Canadian an area in a railway system where rolling stock is shunted, as in forming trains

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012