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Department of Transportation

American  

noun

  1. the department of the U.S. federal government that coordinates and institutes national transportation programs. DOT

Department of Transportation Cultural  

  1. A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

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.

To the east, the city’s Department of Transportation plaza is a fenced-off eyesore.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

Department of Transportation have begun exploring replacing the existing funding structure with a simpler VMT tax that better aligns use with costs and better approximates the real price of roads.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

Part of the Kuihelani Highway on Maui was temporarily closed overnight due to "fast moving water", the Hawaii Department of Transportation posted on X, but had reopened by Sunday.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

The Department of Transportation said it is committed to making sure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

“The bowstring bridge at Delhi is next,” Joe Cassini said on a cellular phone to his boss at the Department of Transportation in Albany.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

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.