switchback

[swich-bak]

noun

a highway, as in a mountainous area, having many hairpin curves.

Railroads. a zigzag track arrangement for climbing a steep grade.

verb (used without object)

(of a road, railroad track, etc.) to progress through a series of hairpin curves; zigzag: The road switchbacks up the mountain.

Origin of switchback

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; switch + back²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for switchback

Historical Examples of switchback

Alexander remarked as they rounded another turn on the switchback path.
The Lani People
J. F. Bone
I felt as if once again I were strapped in the car on the switchback railway.
Marie Tarnowska
Annie Vivanti
The car on the switchback rushes, whirls, plungesfalls with me to destruction.
Marie Tarnowska
Annie Vivanti
But he was a strong horse, and on a trail up a switchback—do you know what a switchback is?
Through Glacier Park
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Before the tunnel was built you crossed in the open air by a switchback line.
From Sea to Sea
Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for switchback

switchback

noun

a mountain road, railway, or track which rises and falls sharply many times or a sharp rise and fall on such a road, railway, or track

another word (esp Brit) for big dipper

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 switchback

adj.

reference to zig-zag railways, 1863, from switch (v.) + back (adv.).