railroad

A route made of metal tracks that trains travel along.

• The railroad runs beside the river.
• We crossed the railroad near the station.
• An old railroad connected the two towns.

Similar words: railway, railway line

Common phrases: railroad track, cross the railroad, railroad crossing

A transport system of trains, tracks, and stations.

• The railroad carries both people and goods.
• The country expanded its railroad network.
• Heavy snow disrupted the railroad system.

Similar words: railway

Common phrases: national railroad, railroad system, railroad network

An organization that owns and runs train lines and related equipment.

• The railroad owns several stations.
• Two smaller railroads merged last year.
• She bought shares in a regional railroad.

Similar words: railway company

Common phrases: private railroad, railroad company, railroad owner

A process pushed through too quickly, without enough thought or fair discussion.

• The hearing was a railroad from start to finish.
• She called the rushed approval a complete railroad.
• The lawyers turned the signing process into a railroad.

Common phrases: a complete railroad, a procedural railroad

If people do this to you, they force you to leave quickly.

• They railroaded him out of his job.
• The board tried to railroad her out of office.
• He feared they would railroad him away before the meeting.

How to use it: railroad someone out of something (They railroaded the chair out of office.)

Similar words: force out, oust

Common phrases: railroad someone out, railroad someone away

To make someone go to prison through an unfair legal process.

• The police railroaded an innocent man.
• She claimed her brother had been railroaded into prison.
• False evidence helped railroad him into jail.

How to use it: railroad someone into prison (They used false evidence to railroad him into prison.)

Similar words: frame

Common phrases: railroad someone into prison, railroad an innocent person

To run a transport business using trains.

• The company hoped to railroad more efficiently.
• They railroaded for profit across the region.
• Private firms can railroad badly too.

Common phrases: railroad efficiently, railroad for profit

To have a job with a train company.

• My grandfather railroaded for forty years.
• She used to railroad for a freight company.
• He began railroading when he was twenty.

How to use it: railroad for someone (He railroaded for a regional train company.)

Common phrases: railroad for someone, railroad for years