coal car
Americannoun
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a railroad car designed to carry coal.
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a car for hauling coal in or from a mine.
Etymology
Origin of coal car
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
In North China it is a 90% coal car, in France it is a 70% nuclear car, in Russia mostly a natural gas car and in Denmark a 50% wind car et cetera.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2022
The engineer does not stir, the tipsy fireman cannot hear above his clanking rake and the ' shattering roar of the coal car.
From Time Magazine Archive
When he was 18, Little Joe O'Brien rode an empty coal car into Nova Scotia to take a job as driver and trainer for a River Hebert horseman.
From Time Magazine Archive
The text is as unadorned as a coal car, but the pictures have a purity and force that Amtrak would do well to emulate.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mr. Kirk made a run to the track to unload his shuttle into a waiting coal car.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
