railroad track
32
2.5
- noun
- /ˈreɪlˌrɔrd træk/
- US
:
vía férrea
- We started to settle down along the railroad track and to search for something to eat.
- adjacent to railroad tracks
There aren't any railroad tracks that mark it out clearly.
- There aren't any railroad tracks that mark it out clearly.
- There's a lemon factory and then a railroad track and then a sharp turn.
- These are like railroads or like like railroad tracks or rebar, which we use in construction stuff.
- It's the warning, like railroad tracks ahead, be careful, slow down hazardous road.
- And the next thing I just, I passed out, passed out these railroad tracks.
- There is construction stuff that they would dump there and then beyond it, it was the railroad tracks.
Examples
-
Down to 107th Street East, a little north of the old railroad tracks that hadn't been used for years.
Fiction book (1995) -
And they are walking around by the railroad tracks, and they come upon some hobos.
-
Here, for instance, we see that railroad tracks actually do meet.
-
We got two railroad tracks just over here.
-
Just follow the railroad tracks.
-
Across the street were railroad tracks, a train station, and beyond that, the public library.
Fiction book (1992) -
So we walked home along the railroad tracks.
-
There's nothing on this map except a big lake and some railroad tracks.
-
I suggest we walk down the railroad tracks to McDonald's and get some pancakes.
Fiction book (1996) -
We walked along the railroad track to enjoy the view of the passing trains.
Synonyms
∞
2.2
A long metal or rubber band with wheels that helps heavy vehicles move over soft ground
40
1.1
Tracks and other parts that trains run on
16
2.8
Tracks and the ground they sit on that form a route for trains
3
2.1
A set of tracks that trains use to travel between places
3
1.0
Long steel bars that trains run on
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'railroad track' is directly compositional: 'railroad' relates to trains/rail systems and 'track' means a path, so together they denote the rails/path for trains. This noun–noun compound is literal and follows common cross-linguistic naming patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Railroad track comes from a simple image: long metal rails placed side by side to make a road for 'trains'. So a railroad track is literally the pair of metal rails that form the 'path' a train runs on.