tram

¹

[tram]

noun

1. British.,  a streetcar.

2. a tramway; tramroad.

3. Also called tramcar. a truck or car on rails for carrying loads in a mine.

4. the vehicle or cage of an overhead carrier.

verb (used with or without object)

trammed, tramming 

1. to convey or travel by tram.

tram

²

[tram]

noun

1. trammel.

verb (used with object)

trammed, tramming 

1. Machinery.,  to adjust (something) correctly.

tram

³

[tram]

noun

1. silk that has been slightly or loosely twisted, used weftwise in weaving silk fabrics.

tram

¹

/ træm /

noun

1. Also called: tramcar. US and Canadian names: streetcar.  trolley car. 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

2. a small vehicle on rails for carrying loads in a mine; tub

tram

²

/ træm /

noun

1. machinery a fine adjustment that ensures correct function or alignment

verb

1. (tr) to adjust (a mechanism) to a fine degree of accuracy

tram

³

/ træm /

noun

1. (in weaving) a weft yarn of two or more twisted strands of silk

Other Word Forms

• tramless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tram¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; Middle English tram, tram(me) “mechanical device, astronomical instrument, siege tower”); 1820–30 tram ¹ for def. 2; originally shafts of a barrow or cart, rails for carts (in mines); perhaps from Middle Dutch trame “beam”

Origin of tram²

First recorded in 1880–85; short for trammel

Origin of tram³

First recorded in 1670–80; from French trame “woof, weft, tram,” from Latin trāma “warp,” from trahere “to draw, drag”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tram¹

C16 (in the sense: shaft of a cart): probably from Low German traam beam; compare Old Norse thrömr , Middle Dutch traem beam, tooth of a rake

Origin of tram²

C19: short for _trammel

Origin of tram³

C17: from French trame , from Latin trāma ; related to Latin trāns across, trāmes footpath

Example Sentences

For a little over $46 a month, I have access to every bus, train, tram and ferry within 30 miles.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A former railway line which runs through Edinburgh is at the centre of a heated debate over whether it should return as a tram line.

Read more on BBC

They were scrawled across sidewalks, proclaimed on banners, repeated on the street and the tram, spoken at the hospital, at home, by his wife, by his children.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Over its years of considering the gondola, one Metro document framed the issue this way: “Could an aerial tram to Dodger Stadium alleviate traffic congestion, clean the air, and spark joy?”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Although trains were running, most buses, trams and underground trains in the capital ground to a halt.

Read more on BBC