train

American  

[trayn] / treɪn /

noun

• trains
  plural

1. Railroads. a self-propelled, connected group of rolling stock.

2. a line or procession of persons, vehicles, animals, etc., traveling together.

3. Military. an aggregation of vehicles, animals, and personnel accompanying an army to carry supplies, baggage, ammunition, etc.

   Synonyms:

   convoy

4. a series or row of objects or parts.

5. Machinery. a connected set of three or more rotating elements, usually gears, through which force is transmitted, or motion or torque changed.

6. order, especially proper order.

   Matters were in good train.

   Synonyms:

   arrangement, array

7. something that is drawn along; a trailing part.

8. an elongated part of a skirt or robe trailing behind on the ground.

9. a trail or stream of something from a moving object.

10. a line or succession of persons or things following one after the other.

    Synonyms:

    column, file

11. a body of followers or attendants; retinue.

12. a series of proceedings, events, ideas, etc.

13. the series of results or circumstances following or proceeding from an event, action, etc.; aftermath.

    Disease came in the train of war.

14. a succession of connected ideas; a course of reasoning.

    to lose one's train of thought.

15. Astronomy.

    1. the trace of light created by a meteor falling through the earth's atmosphere.

    2. the tail of a comet.

16. a line of combustible material, as gunpowder, for leading fire to an explosive charge.

17. Physics. a succession of wave fronts, oscillations, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

• trains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trained,
  past participle,  past
• training
  present participle

1. to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior of (a child or other person) by discipline and instruction.

   to train an unruly boy.

2. to make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work.

   to train soldiers.

   Synonyms:

   school, practice, drill, exercise

3. to make (a person) fit by proper exercise, diet, practice, etc., as for an athletic performance.

4. to discipline and instruct (an animal), as in the performance of tasks or tricks.

5. to treat or manipulate so as to bring into some desired form, position, direction, etc..

   to train one's hair to stay down.

6. Horticulture. to bring (a plant, branch, etc.) into a particular shape or position, by bending, pruning, or the like.

7. to bring to bear on some object; point, aim, or direct, as a firearm, camera, telescope, or eye.

8. Archaic. to entice; allure.

verb (used without object)

• trains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trained,
  past participle,  past
• training
  present participle

1. to give the discipline and instruction, drill, practice, etc., designed to impart proficiency or efficiency.

2. to undergo discipline and instruction, drill, etc.

3. to get oneself into condition for an athletic performance through exercise, diet, practice, etc.

4. to travel or go by train.

   to train to New York.

train British  

/ treɪn /

verb

1. (tr) to guide or teach (to do something), as by subjecting to various exercises or experiences

   to train a man to fight

2. (tr) to control or guide towards a specific goal

   to train a plant up a wall

3. (intr) to do exercises and prepare for a specific purpose

   the athlete trained for the Olympics

4. (tr) to improve or curb by subjecting to discipline

   to train the mind

5. (tr) to focus or bring to bear (on something)

   to train a telescope on the moon

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noun

1. 1. a line of coaches or wagons coupled together and drawn by a railway locomotive

   2. ( as modifier )

      a train ferry

2. a sequence or series, as of events, thoughts, etc

   a train of disasters

3. a procession of people, vehicles, etc, travelling together, such as one carrying supplies of ammunition or equipment in support of a military operation

4. a series of interacting parts through which motion is transmitted

   a train of gears

5. a fuse or line of gunpowder to an explosive charge, etc

6. something drawn along, such as the long back section of a dress that trails along the floor behind the wearer

7. a retinue or suite

8. proper order or course

train Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing train

• gravy train

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Synonym Usage

See teach.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minitrain
  noun
• mistrain
  verb
• overtrain
  verb
• supertrain
  verb
• pretrain
  verb (used with object)
• undertrain
  verb (used with object)
• half-trained
  adjective
• nontrained
  adjective
• self-trained
  adjective
• semitrained
  adjective
• trainable
  adjective
• trainless
  adjective
• undertrained
  adjective
• untrained
  adjective
• well-trained
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trains
  plural

Participles

• training
  present
• trained
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• train
  simple
• trains
  simple
• have trained
  perfect
• has trained
  perfect
• am training
  progressive
• are training
  progressive
• is training
  progressive
• have been training
  perfect progressive
• has been training
  perfect progressive

Past

• trained
  simple
• had trained
  perfect
• was training
  progressive
• were training
  progressive
• had been training
  perfect progressive

Future

• will train
  simple
• will have trained
  perfect
• will be training
  progressive
• will have been training
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of train

First 1350–1400; (verb) late Middle English traynyn “to pull or drag in the rear,” from Middle French trainer, Old French tra(h)iner, from unattested Vulgar Latin tragīnāre, derivative of unrecorded tragīna “something dragged or drawn” (compare Medieval Latin tragīna “carriage”), derivative of unattested tragere “to pull,” for Latin trahere; (noun) Middle English train, traine, from Old French tra(h)in (masculine) “series of people, animals, or things,” tra(h)ine (feminine) “something dragged behind,” both derivative of tra(h)iner

Explanation

To train means to teach a skill. If you train your cat to use the toilet, your family will be amazed. You can train animals to perform in a circus or roll over, and you can train people to do things like program computers or use an espresso machine. When you instruct someone how to do a task, you train him or her. Other meanings of the word train? A locomotive, like the train that takes people from New York City to Boston or a long piece of material attached to the back of a dress, like the train on a wedding dress.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

train trains trained training

But it added to a difficult summer for train passengers.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Bedbugs causing travel chaos is not unusual - less than two weeks ago, several Southeastern train services in England were cancelled after drivers discovered the creepy-crawlies in their cabs.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

"I don't take the subway anymore to the big games," he confessed to reporters, but recalled riding the train regularly while growing up -- noting he always paid his fare.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

The train system is "old and creaky and it's outdated," he admitted.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

“At the train station in Amsterdam! Only I have no money for the trainfare.”

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Adam Checkley from Network Rail, said: "Our teams have now cleared the issue allowing the route to reopen, but with trains and their crew out of position, delays and cancellations will continue throughout the day."

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Dozens of metro stations were closed and many intercity trains were canceled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Authorities have closed dozens of metro stations, cancelled several trains coming to Delhi and shut down mobile internet temporarily around the protest site.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

“In the meantime, protecting the existing line is essential to keeping trains running safely for the communities that rely on them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

To avoid the usual loud noises and whistles of approaching trains, officials notified trains coming south on adjacent tracks to stop as the president neared.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

"Actors are trained to look out for people that might be vulnerable or sensitive, and they can adapt their acting."

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Delays sometimes happen if soldiers aren’t trained, or if the communications parts, made by a separate company, have glitches, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Keepers at Sydney's Taronga Zoo trained two sea lions and two fur seals to listen to sounds and press a paddle when they heard a tone.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The breakthrough model demonstrated one of the central tenets underpinning the AI boom: that capabilities would increase when models were trained on more data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

He’d written a mediocre poem but had performed like a trained actor, which made his mediocre poem sound excellent.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Most of the time, little information is available to the public about the people administering the lethal injection, as the states do not usually share what training they have had.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

And police in New Zealand said last week he had spent time in the country on a six-month student visa, where he completed a portion of his flight training, national broadcaster RNZ said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Standing on Walton’s main street near a fried chicken shop, Morgan Price, 22, is one of a million young Brits who aren’t in school, don’t have a job and aren’t training for one.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Discipline has been big for Guzman, whether that means players show up to weight training wearing all black or making sure they never walk when heading to the practice field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

“Why are you training for it, anyway? It can’t be because we said we would three years ago. What’s the real reason?”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

• care for
• develop
• discipline
• educate
• equip
• improve
• instruct
• qualify
• study
• teach
• tutor
• work out