gravy train

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noun Slang.

a position in which a person or group receives excessive and unjustified money or advantages with little or no effort: The top executives were on the gravy train with their huge bonuses.

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Origin of gravy train

First recorded in 1925–30

Words nearby gravy train

gravlax, Gravol, gravure, gravy, gravy boat, gravy train, gravy train, ride the, gray, grayanotoxin, gray area, grayback

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

How to use gravy train in a sentence

From there we took the train to Nice, France, but the French border control caught us and sent us back to Italy.
Ghost Ships of the Mediterranean|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The U.S. military is finally starting to train Iraqi troops to fight ISIS in restive Anbar province.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’|Nancy A. Youssef|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Thankfully there were no casualties—the driver managed to stop the train immediately.
Is Putin Turning to Terrorism in Ukraine?|Anna Nemtsova|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The U.S. only plans to train roughly 3,000 Iraqi troops in the first year.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’|Nancy A. Youssef|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

“We met the smuggler in the train station; he came to speak with us about the services he provided,” Yazbek says.
Ghost Ships of the Mediterranean|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was only the engine drawing the train of cars up to the station to take the passengers away.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
He went careering forward to his point, overturning and wounding; but as he speeded on, he left a train of enemies behind.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
The fire along the three miles front is like the rumble of an express train running over fog signals.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
We were about nine hours of fair daylight traversing 160 miles of level or descending grade, with a light passenger train.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
There were only seventeen stations on the whole line, over which the first passenger train ran on Sept. 17.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

British Dictionary definitions for gravy train

gravy train

noun

slang a job requiring comparatively little work for good pay, benefits, etc

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

Cultural definitions for gravy train

gravy train

A job or project that requires little effort but yields considerable profits: “His father worked hard to build the company, but all Percy has to do is sit back and ride the gravy train.”