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• broad gauge
  broad gauge

  noun

  gauge15
• broad-gauge
  broad-gauge

  adjective

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

broad gauge

¹ American  

especially in technical use, broad gage

noun

Railroads.

1. gauge15

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broad-gauge ² American  

[brawd-geyj] / ˈbrɔdˌgeɪdʒ /

Or broad-gauged

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.

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broad gauge British  

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

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adjective

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

Etymology

Origin of broad gauge¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Origin of broad-gauge²

1835–45, for an earlier sense

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

broad gauge broad-gauge

The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing index, a broad gauge of manufacturing activity, has been above the threshold for manufacturing-sector expansion for seven straight months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

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.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2022

MSCI’s broad gauge of regional markets outside Japan fell more than 2% to its lowest level since November 2020.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 27, 2022

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.

From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2021

It is well to go from San Francisco on the narrow gauge, 80 miles, Southern Pacific, and return on the broad gauge, 121 miles.

From The Old Franciscan Missions Of California by George Wharton James

The issue is that cargoes from Ukraine’s broad-gauge wagons need to be reloaded onto standard Europe size ones or the container section transferred onto different wheels.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2022

Galati is connected by the broad-gauge railway that’s compatible with the Ukrainian system and may facilitate the quicker rerouting of grains.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2022

That book, published two years ago, covers similar terrain from a more broad-gauge perspective.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2020

That is sort of the broad-gauge intelligence gathering that many people are very worried about.

From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2011

Here is, indeed, a broad-gauge social school policy, to which the administrative authorities of the Cincinnati schools are fully committed.

From The New Education A Review of Progressive Educational Movements of the Day (1915) by Scott Nearing