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definitions

railroading

[reyl-roh-ding]
See more synonyms for railroading on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the construction or operation of railroads.
  2. travel by railroad.

Origin of railroading

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; railroad + -ing1

railroad

[reyl-rohd]
noun
  1. a permanent road laid with rails, commonly in one or more pairs of continuous lines forming a track or tracks, on which locomotives and cars are run for the transportation of passengers, freight, and mail.
  2. an entire system of such roads together with its rolling stock, buildings, etc.; the entire railway plant, including fixed and movable property.
  3. the company of persons owning or operating such a plant.
  4. Bowling. a split.
  5. railroads, stocks or bonds of railroad companies.
verb (used with object)
  1. to transport by means of a railroad.
  2. to supply with railroads.
  3. Informal. to push (a law or bill) hastily through a legislature so that there is not time enough for objections to be considered.
  4. Informal. to convict (a person) in a hasty manner by means of false charges or insufficient evidence: The prisoner insisted he had been railroaded.
verb (used without object)
  1. to work on a railroad.

Origin of railroad

1750–60; 1875–85 for def 9; rail1 + road
Related formsnon·rail·road, adjectivepre·rail·road, adjectivepro·rail·road, adjectiveun·rail·road·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for railroading

detain, jail, confine, imprison, sentence, hold, urge, sue, force, worry, demand, push, assail, squeeze, petition, depress, propel, shove, launch, bump

Examples from the Web for railroading

Contemporary Examples of railroading

Historical Examples of railroading

British Dictionary definitions for railroading

railroad

noun
  1. the usual US word for railway
verb
  1. (tr) informal to force (a person) into (an action) with haste or by unfair means
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
Word Origin and History for railroading
n.

1842, "travel by rail," from railroad (n.). As "business of running railways" from 1882.

railroad

n.

1757, from rail (n.1) + road. Originally "road laid with rails for heavy wagons (in mining)." The process itself (but not the word) seems to have been in use by late 17c. Application to passenger and freight trains dates from 1825, though tending to be replaced in this sense in England by railway.

railroad

v.

"to convict quickly and perhaps unjustly," 1873, American English, from railroad (n.).

A person knowing more than might be desirable of the affairs, or perhaps the previous life of some powerful individual, high in authority, might some day ventilate his knowledge, possibly before a court of justice; but if his wisdom is railroaded to State's prison, his evidence becomes harmless. ["Wanderings of a Vagabond," New York, 1873]

Related: Railroaded; railroading. An earlier verb sense was "to have a mania for building railroads" (1847).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper