permanent way

American  

noun

British.

1. the roadbed and track of a railroad.

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permanent way British  

noun

1. the track of a railway, including the ballast, sleepers, rails, etc

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Etymology

Origin of permanent way

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

permanent way

When even the top 20% of M.B.A. graduates can’t find the type of roles they want, the market for their degrees is changing in a permanent way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

It hasn’t been used as a permanent way to deploy troops into our cities.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026

The terrain is difficult enough and inaccessible enough that it likely would not have been utilized even by pre-Columbian peoples, certainly not in a permanent way.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2025

The result is that we can genetically label those cells in a permanent way.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 15, 2023

The scent got laid down in me in a permanent way and had all the precision of cinnamon.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd