tram

¹ American  

[tram] / træm /

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.

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verb (used with or without object)

trammed, tramming

1. to convey or travel by tram.

tram ² American  

[tram] / træm /

noun

1. trammel.

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verb (used with object)

trammed, tramming

1. Machinery. to adjust (something) correctly.

tram ³ American  

[tram] / træm /

noun

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

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tram ¹ British  

/ 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

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tram ² British  

/ træm /

noun

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

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verb

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

tram ³ British  

/ træm /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• tramless
  adjective

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Etymology

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”

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Explanation

A tram is a trolley or a streetcar—it's a vehicle that transports people using electricity from overhead cables while running on tracks that are set into the street. In the U.S., you might also call a tram a cable car or light rail. If you've been on a streetcar in San Francisco or a trolley in Philadelphia, you've ridden a tram. The word tram was originally a Scottish term for the wagons that are used in coal mines, stemming from a Middle Flemish word meaning "rung or handle of a barrow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tram trammed tramming

I came in search of an exposé and found a humble tram driver.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

But when I boarded a tram, I recognized someone: The driver was my Good Samaritan from the highway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Manchester City was a "catalyst" for infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the tram network, said Krishnan-Harihara.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

"The cost of a bus or tram journey should never be what stops a young person getting to college, taking up an apprenticeship, joining a sports club or simply spending time with friends," she said.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Dearest Elizabeth, I’ve been thinking about this from the moment I realized what he’d done, from the moment I ran for the tram.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

Z. and I half walked and half trammed into Rouen this morning.

From Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915 by Anonymous

The valves of these turbines are all set during the shop test and the rods trammed with an 8-inch tram.

From Steam Turbines A Book of Instruction for the Adjustment and Operation of the Principal Types of this Class of Prime Movers by Hubert E. (Hubert Edwin) Collins

I trammed over to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel this time and the Stanze and Loggie of Raphael.

From Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Life January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904 by Mary Alsop King Waddington

We had tea in the town and trammed back.

From Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915 by Anonymous

"You're not going to see it tramming through because there's no hardness in the wickets – other than frost," said the Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2013

The tramming of ore by hand through such a distance would cost about double the amount to hoist it through a shaft and transport it mechanically to the dressing plant at surface.

From Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration by Herbert Hoover

Then, at last, Dorine realized that she was not fit to be seen, after trotting and tramming the whole afternoon in the rain.

From Small Souls by Louis Couperus

Thus tramming and shaft work, as stated before, can be concentrated.

From Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration by Herbert Hoover

On mines where the volume of ore does not warrant mechanical haulage, the cost of tramming through the extra distance involved is an expense which outweighs any extra operating outlay in the inclined shaft itself.

From Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration by Herbert Hoover

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