milk train
1
6.5
- noun
- Archaic
:
tren de leche
- I got the milk train back.
Examples
-
it's the milk train
-
Oh, the dream stirs, reaches out its hand that is covered with eyes. I stumble off the tracks as a milk train crumples past.
Fiction book (1996) -
Came back on the milk train.
-
Yeah, it's a real milk train.
-
Every school day of the year, she and her sister Betty took the milk train.
Fiction book (1996) -
Next time he came for a visit, maybe they'd ride up to Huancayo together on the milk train.
Fiction book (1995) -
Earlier in the novel, Tess had stood silhouetted against the London milk train.
Fiction book (1996) -
The milk train arrived early in the morning, filled with fresh dairy products for the city.
-
Farmers depend on the milk train to deliver their products to markets in the nearby towns.
-
She watched the milk train leave the station, knowing it was carrying fresh milk from the countryside.
Synonyms
1
9.3
A wagon that used to deliver milk to people's homes
1
3.5
A small vehicle with an open side that delivers milk to homes
A vehicle that delivers milk to people's homes or shops
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'milk' (the product) + 'train' (a rail vehicle) yields a train that carries milk, so the overall sense is predictable from the parts. Noun-noun compounds indicating the cargo or function of an object are common in English and across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer this meaning.
Etymology
Milk train comes from early trains that carried cans of milk from farms to towns at dawn. So, milk train means 'a train for delivering milk'.