broad gauge

nounRailroads.

See under gauge (def. 15).

Origin of broad gauge

First recorded in 1835–45

Also especially in technical use, broad gage .

Words Nearby broad gauge

Other definitions for broad-gauge (2 of 2)

broad-gauge

or broad-gauged

[ brawd-geyj ]

adjective

Railroads. of or relating to equipment designed for a railroad having track of a broad gauge: broad-gauge rolling stock.
of wide scope, application, or experience: broad-gauge efforts to improve the health of our citizens.

Origin of broad-gauge

1835–45, for an earlier sense

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use broad gauge in a sentence

The extensions of the broad-gauge companies are, it is estimated, to cost 9,000 per mile for track and stations alone.
Argentina | W. A. Hirst
At Mladinovatz all this mass of commissariat and suffering must needs be transferred from or to the broad-gauge line.
The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915 | Various
Little notion had she of the broad gauge those questions would run upon.
East Lynne | Mrs. Henry Wood
Locomotive and atmospheric lines, broad-gauge and narrow-gauge lines, were granted without hesitation.
Lives of the Engineers | Samuel Smiles
For variety, I took the broad-gauge road, but found little difference in the country through which we passed.
In Indian Mexico (1908) | Frederick Starr

British Dictionary definitions for broad gauge

broad gauge

noun

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

adjectivebroad-gauge

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

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

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