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definitions

branch line

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noun

a rail line, directly or indirectly connected with a main line, having its own stations and service.

Origin of branch line

First recorded in 1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for branch line

Historical Examples of branch line

  • Maids, courier, and heavier luggage had been sent on earlier by the branch-line.

    Howards End

    E. M. Forster

  • I got to some little junction at last where I had to wait an hour for a branch-line train.

    The Passionate Friends

    Herbert George Wells

  • He was still tied and blindfolded, and I hope to be buried alive in a branch-line town if he wasn't getting bored.

    At Good Old Siwash

    George Fitch

  • Branch-line service in every part of the land has been a neglected feature of railroad opportunity—as we shall see in due course.

    The Railroad Problem

    Edward Hungerford

  • For branch-line passenger service is closely related to this last phase of automobile competition.

    The Railroad Problem

    Edward Hungerford

British Dictionary definitions for branch line

branch line

noun

railways a secondary route to a place or places not served by a main line
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