brakeman
Americannoun
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a railroad worker who assists the conductor in the operation of a train.
noun
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a crew member of a goods or passenger train. His duties include controlling auxiliary braking power and inspecting the train
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the person at the back of a two- or four-man bobsleigh, who operates the brake
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brakeman
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:
“It’s terrifying. You’re going super, super fast. As a brakeman you can’t see what’s going on because your head is down,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
The brakeman tried to apply emergency brakes but failed to prevent the derailment, The cause of the crash remains unknown.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
His father, who worked as a brakeman to supplement the family income, froze to death in a local railyard when Frank was 13.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
Teaming with brakeman Kaysha Love, Humphries is fifth at the midway point in 2:03.38 — nearly six-tenths of a second away from what currently is the bronze position.
From Fox News ● Feb. 18, 2022
Sausage patties, which reminded me of the brakeman.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
He is considered one of Great Britain's best bobsleigh brakemen, having won 15 World Cup medals - including three golds - as part of the two-man and four-man teams.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2024
Both said they were relying big-time on their brakemen Tuesday; Humphries is getting pushed by Kaysha Love, Meyers Taylor is getting pushed by Sylvia Hoffman.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
“To continue to fight for greater and greater participation among women and get those brakemen get more medal opportunities too.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
The technology would end the days of brakemen running on top of train cars to individually apply the brakes, a system that often required miles for a train to stop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2018
It is of no use to tire the conductor and brakemen with repeated questions: they are rarely responsible for the delay, which is more vexatious to them than to us.
From Lessons on Manners For School and Home Use by Wiggin, Edith E.
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.
