streetcar

[street-kahr]

noun

1. a public vehicle running regularly along certain streets, usually on rails, as a trolley car or trolley bus.

streetcar

/ ˈstriːtˌkɑː /

noun

1. Also called: trolley car.  tram.  tramcar. an electrically driven public transport vehicle that runs on rails let into the surface of the road, power usually being taken from an overhead wire

Word History and Origins

Origin of streetcar¹

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; street + car ¹

Example Sentences

The commuters in “Le Métro” hark back to his early streetcar scenes but now there’s an air of mystery to the straphangers, with the central figure’s face obscured and bisected by a subway pole.

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Both have done away with them, leaving Kolkata as the only Indian city to hold onto the trundling streetcars.

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An-My, you chose Robert Frank’s picture of a streetcar in New Orleans, taken that year.

Read more on New York Times

He still lives in Seattle, consults for transportation clients, and joined the board of a company that locates underground utility obstacles, like those which delayed the new Tacoma Link Hilltop Extension streetcar.

Read more on Seattle Times

King County Metro Transit said Thursday the South Lake Union streetcar won’t be in service from noon Friday to 3 p.m.

Read more on Seattle Times

Related Words

• trolley