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Toonerville trolley

American  
[too-ner-vil] / ˈtu nərˌvɪl /

noun

  1. a dilapidated, outmoded trolley line or railway.

Etymology

Origin of Toonerville trolley

After the train in the comic strip Toonerville Trolley by U.S. cartoonist Fontaine T. Fox (1884–1964)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After finding that the Florida campaign was "dinking along like a Toonerville trolley," Roberts more than tripled the operation to 40 paid employees.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.