brake-van
noun
the caboose of a railway train.
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brake-van
American
[breyk-van]
/ ˈbreɪkˌvæn /
noun
British.
brake van
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of brake-van
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
Fortunately there was a goods train immediately following the mail, and some four hours afterwards our big friend alighted from a goods brake-van in a furious temper.
From Here, There and Everywhere by Hamilton, Frederick Spencer, Lord
This eventually took the form of being driven to the nearest railway terminus, a short day's journey, and being deposited in a first-class carriage, with all their effects in the brake-van, carefully labelled.
From The Crooked Stick or Pollies's Probation by Boldrewood, Rolf
At this crisis I had the luck to come across my friend Inspector Hooper, Cape Government Railways, in command of an engine and a brake-van chalked for repair.
From Traffics and Discoveries by Kipling, Rudyard
About Tell el-Kabír, the brake-van also waxed unsafely warm; but it reached Zagázig without developing more caloric.
From The Land of Midian — Volume 2 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
He was about to take his seat again in the carriage when he observed a crowd on the platform opposite the brake-van at the rear end of the train.
From The Monkey That Would Not Kill by Wain, Louis
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.
