switch engine
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of switch engine
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once, when a railroad switch engine idled back and forth on a track that passed the Lions' practice field, Parker looked up to see the engineer and fireman watching the workout.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has also answered calls by rowboat and switch engine.
From Time Magazine Archive
Example: a White truck on railroad wheels, now used as a Port Cargill switch engine.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Macon, Ga., 50 men and women sat down with determination on a railroad track so that a switch engine could not take carloads of cotton goods from the Payne Mill of Bibb Manufacturing Co.
From Time Magazine Archive
He heard a switch engine in the Southern Pacific yards discharging steam in shrill dry spurts.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
