switchman

[ swich-muhn ]

noun,plural switch·men.
  1. a person who has charge of a switch on a railroad.

  2. a person who assists in moving cars in a railway yard or terminal.

Origin of switchman

1
First recorded in 1835–45; switch + -man

Words Nearby switchman

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use switchman in a sentence

  • But what limit is set to a switchman's courage I have never known, because I've never known one to balk at a yardmaster's order.

    The Daughter of a Magnate | Frank H. Spearman
  • He was a good switchman and more than ordinarily intelligent.

    Prisons and Prayer: Or a Labor of Love | Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton
  • A railroad switchman who faces the company's president after saving a train from destruction might wear just that expression.

    The Rest Hollow Mystery | Rebecca N. Porter
  • The next night he told me to keep the key till the old switchman came back on duty—so he must have had an extra one of his own.

  • He snatched a lantern from the hand of a bewildered switchman and stumbled again toward the overturned car.

    The Promise | James B. Hendryx

British Dictionary definitions for switchman

switchman

/ (ˈswɪtʃmən) /


nounplural -men
  1. US and Canadian a person who operates railway points: Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): pointsman

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