dining car

American

noun

a railroad car equipped with tables and chairs, in which meals are served.

dining car British

noun

Also called: restaurant car. a railway coach in which meals are served at tables

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

dining cars

plural

Etymology

Origin of dining car

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

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.

Over the course of six dining car meals as a solo traveler, I heard no political disagreements and met travelers from their 20s to their 80s.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

I zipped my bags shut, tipped the roomette attendant and dining car team.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

The latter comes with three meals a day in the dining car.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

And so Ricky Chatto found himself constructing a complete dining car and sleeper carriage inside Clean Bandit’s studio in Finsbury Park.

From BBC • Aug. 20, 2024

Antonio Foscarelli came into the dining car with a swift, catlike tread.

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023