train

American  

[treyn] / treɪn /

noun

• trains
  plural

1. Railroads. a self-propelled, connected group of rolling stock.

2. a line or procession of persons, vehicles, animals, etc., traveling together.

3. Military. an aggregation of vehicles, animals, and personnel accompanying an army to carry supplies, baggage, ammunition, etc.

   Synonyms:

   convoy

4. a series or row of objects or parts.

5. Machinery. a connected set of three or more rotating elements, usually gears, through which force is transmitted, or motion or torque changed.

6. order, especially proper order.

   Matters were in good train.

   Synonyms:

   arrangement, array

7. something that is drawn along; a trailing part.

8. an elongated part of a skirt or robe trailing behind on the ground.

9. a trail or stream of something from a moving object.

10. a line or succession of persons or things following one after the other.

    Synonyms:

    column, file

11. a body of followers or attendants; retinue.

12. a series of proceedings, events, ideas, etc.

13. the series of results or circumstances following or proceeding from an event, action, etc.; aftermath.

    Disease came in the train of war.

14. a succession of connected ideas; a course of reasoning.

    to lose one's train of thought.

15. Astronomy.

    1. the trace of light created by a meteor falling through the earth's atmosphere.

    2. the tail of a comet.

16. a line of combustible material, as gunpowder, for leading fire to an explosive charge.

17. Physics. a succession of wave fronts, oscillations, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

• trains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trained,
  past participle,  past
• training
  present participle

1. to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior of (a child or other person) by discipline and instruction.

   to train an unruly boy.

2. to make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work.

   to train soldiers.

   Synonyms:

   school, practice, drill, exercise

3. to make (a person) fit by proper exercise, diet, practice, etc., as for an athletic performance.

4. to discipline and instruct (an animal), as in the performance of tasks or tricks.

5. to treat or manipulate so as to bring into some desired form, position, direction, etc..

   to train one's hair to stay down.

6. Horticulture. to bring (a plant, branch, etc.) into a particular shape or position, by bending, pruning, or the like.

7. to bring to bear on some object; point, aim, or direct, as a firearm, camera, telescope, or eye.

8. Archaic. to entice; allure.

verb (used without object)

• trains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trained,
  past participle,  past
• training
  present participle

1. to give the discipline and instruction, drill, practice, etc., designed to impart proficiency or efficiency.

2. to undergo discipline and instruction, drill, etc.

3. to get oneself into condition for an athletic performance through exercise, diet, practice, etc.

4. to travel or go by train.

   to train to New York.

train British  

/ treɪn /

verb

1. (tr) to guide or teach (to do something), as by subjecting to various exercises or experiences

   to train a man to fight

2. (tr) to control or guide towards a specific goal

   to train a plant up a wall

3. (intr) to do exercises and prepare for a specific purpose

   the athlete trained for the Olympics

4. (tr) to improve or curb by subjecting to discipline

   to train the mind

5. (tr) to focus or bring to bear (on something)

   to train a telescope on the moon

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noun

1. 1. a line of coaches or wagons coupled together and drawn by a railway locomotive

   2. ( as modifier )

      a train ferry

2. a sequence or series, as of events, thoughts, etc

   a train of disasters

3. a procession of people, vehicles, etc, travelling together, such as one carrying supplies of ammunition or equipment in support of a military operation

4. a series of interacting parts through which motion is transmitted

   a train of gears

5. a fuse or line of gunpowder to an explosive charge, etc

6. something drawn along, such as the long back section of a dress that trails along the floor behind the wearer

7. a retinue or suite

8. proper order or course

train Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing train

• gravy train

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Synonym Usage

See teach.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minitrain
  noun
• mistrain
  verb
• overtrain
  verb
• supertrain
  verb
• pretrain
  verb (used with object)
• undertrain
  verb (used with object)
• half-trained
  adjective
• nontrained
  adjective
• self-trained
  adjective
• semitrained
  adjective
• trainable
  adjective
• trainless
  adjective
• undertrained
  adjective
• untrained
  adjective
• well-trained
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trains
  plural

Participles

• training
  present
• trained
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• train
  simple
• trains
  simple
• have trained
  perfect
• has trained
  perfect
• am training
  progressive
• are training
  progressive
• is training
  progressive
• have been training
  perfect progressive
• has been training
  perfect progressive

Past

• trained
  simple
• had trained
  perfect
• was training
  progressive
• were training
  progressive
• had been training
  perfect progressive

Future

• will train
  simple
• will have trained
  perfect
• will be training
  progressive
• will have been training
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of train

First 1350–1400; (verb) late Middle English traynyn “to pull or drag in the rear,” from Middle French trainer, Old French tra(h)iner, from unattested Vulgar Latin tragīnāre, derivative of unrecorded tragīna “something dragged or drawn” (compare Medieval Latin tragīna “carriage”), derivative of unattested tragere “to pull,” for Latin trahere; (noun) Middle English train, traine, from Old French tra(h)in (masculine) “series of people, animals, or things,” tra(h)ine (feminine) “something dragged behind,” both derivative of tra(h)iner

Explanation

To train means to teach a skill. If you train your cat to use the toilet, your family will be amazed. You can train animals to perform in a circus or roll over, and you can train people to do things like program computers or use an espresso machine. When you instruct someone how to do a task, you train him or her. Other meanings of the word train? A locomotive, like the train that takes people from New York City to Boston or a long piece of material attached to the back of a dress, like the train on a wedding dress.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

train trains trained training

The i Paper says new housing developments near train stations are set to be fast-tracked in a major expansion of commuter villages and towns.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

British group Virgin has been granted track access to run new cross-Channel train services from 2030, the country's rail regulator said Monday, bringing it closer to launching a rival service to Eurostar.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

The neighborhood is close to downtown and Johns Hopkins Hospital, where Miller works, and to subway, light-rail and train stations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

“I moved in 2013 to California to train full time and play beach volleyball full time,” Schalk said, who along with Rodriguez lives in Gardena.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

“So, is your plan to look for a public telephone at the train station and see if they have a Polk’s there?”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Before its services can run, Virgin still needs to procure a rolling stock of trains for the route, gain access to other rail networks and obtain safety approvals from British and European Union authorities.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

And much of it ends up on the curb in loose plastic bags—before getting shipped out of the city altogether, on barges and then trains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Mamdani offered an amiable leftist alternative to “making the trains run on time,” flexing state power to make life easier and more affordable for average citizens.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Visitors to the airport have been able to watch the trains in action, but travelers have yet to benefit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

“Did you know they have trains there? And books about trains?”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

AI is trained in part on what people like, and people prefer the brown-nosing, says Myra Cheng, a computer-science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University and lead author of a March study on agreeable AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Vincent swears dogs can be trained to do anything, like open the refrigerator.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Cobbled together in the aftermath of 9/11, the agency has 7,100 armed, highly trained agents and another 800 criminal analysts, as well as access to troves of confidential data about hundreds of millions of Americans.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

The Wiener campaign described it as “the world’s first AI trained to say no to anything you ask,” intending to highlight her record on housing, transit, and other issues.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

However, it was not a sustained search by trained people it was intended for, but a swoop by soldiers, a place to get out of sight for half an hour.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

The company added that suspending a store is a "precautionary measure" to prevent further alerts while staff undergo additional training.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Anderson aims to better focus the business and rally Golden Arches franchisees behind a new corporate strategy promising better food and service, including enhanced training.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

But Lowden went on to earn his fractured action-hero gravitas the hard way: summer classes at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and several years of stage work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

But as she starts training for 2028, Truwit knows even her national record times might not be enough to get on the podium in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

“I don’t mind you two training at night, but stay away from the upper-level simulations. Okay?”

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• care for
• develop
• discipline
• educate
• equip
• improve
• instruct
• qualify
• study
• teach
• tutor
• work out