skeleton car

American  

noun

Railroads.

1. a freight car essentially consisting of a central longitudinal girder fastened to the trucks, sometimes supplemented by one or more pairs of cross cantilevers: used for carrying logs or containers.

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Etymology

Origin of skeleton car

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

On the opposite side of the road a long low skeleton car was standing, one side lurched drunkenly down with two wheels in the gutter.

From The Flying Mercury by Frederick, Edmund