broad gauge

¹

especially in technical use, broad gage

noun

Railroads.

1. gauge15

broad-gauge

²

Or broad-gauged

[brawd-geyj]

adjective

1. Railroads.,  of or relating to equipment designed for a railroad having track of a broad gauge.

   broad-gauge rolling stock.

2. of wide scope, application, or experience.

   broad-gauge efforts to improve the health of our citizens.

broad gauge

noun

1. a railway track with a greater distance between the lines than the standard gauge of 56 1/ 2 inches (about 1.44 metres) used now by most mainline railway systems

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting a railway having this track

Word History and Origins

Origin of broad gauge¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Origin of broad gauge²

1835–45, for an earlier sense

Example Sentences

The first logistical nightmare is shifting wagons or their loads from broad gauge tracks - 1,524mm wide, in use in the former Soviet Union - to narrower European gauge - 1,432mm wide.

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The broad gauges of inflation have been running at the highest rates in decades.

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The GSIA, whose member bodies track growth in their region, said professionally managed assets, using a broad gauge of what it means to invest sustainably, account for 36% of total assets under management.

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Annual growth in outstanding total social financing, a broad gauge of credit that includes off-balance sheet financing, slowed to 10.1 percent in August, the lowest on record.

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Beginning in the early 1990s, they were gradually converted from a meter gauge system to broad gauge, which allows for bigger, faster, and more trains.

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