dining car

American

noun

a railroad car equipped with tables and chairs, in which meals are served.

dining car British

noun

Also called: restaurant car. a railway coach in which meals are served at tables

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

dining cars

plural

Etymology

Origin of dining car

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

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.

See Examples For:

dining car

Since booths hold four people, dining car stewards like Chuck Jones manage the delicate task of putting travelers together.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

By the time I arrived in the dining car for my first dinner aboard, we were nearing Barstow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

But I had enough room to change clothes and relax with great views when I wasn’t in the observation lounge or dining car.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

And so Ricky Chatto found himself constructing a complete dining car and sleeper carriage inside Clean Bandit’s studio in Finsbury Park.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2024

There were a lot of us that never could afford to eat in the dining car, and the peddlers would board the trains every day.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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