Pullman car
1
6.7
- noun
- /ˈpʊlmən kɑr/
- Archaic
:
coche Pullman
- Their appeal to the fledgling American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, resulted in the union calling on its members to stop handling any trains that included Pullman cars.
- two private Pullman cars
Examples
-
The luxurious Pullman car featured plush seating and large windows for breathtaking views during the journey.
-
Leather seats in a Pullman car...
-
I remember you used to talk about that all the time as a kid, how he took you on the Pullman car, just the two of you.
-
There's a shine that you get In the Pullman car
-
She would have a few hours of sleep in a Pullman car, and then her sister Violy would be there to meet her.
Fiction book (1992) -
Right in front of me, there was a Pullman car, and I happened to notice that an austere woman was reading Sermons and Soda-Water (the three-volume edition).
Academic text (1997) -
Travelers enjoyed a night of restful slumber in the comfortable Pullman car, complete with private sleeping compartments.
-
During their cross-country trip, they spent several nights in a Pullman car, which offered exquisite dining and relaxation amenities.
Synonyms
6
2.5
A vehicle on railway tracks that carries people or goods
4
4.4
A train car with beds for sleeping on overnight trips
1
3.1
A train car with beds for passengers on overnight journeys
1
2.3
A vehicle that runs on tracks and carries people or goods
A luxury train car with beds and other comforts
A train car with beds for overnight travel
How Luxurious
Surface Forms
Morphology
Pullman + car
The headword 'Pullman' is a proper name/brand and does not transparently contribute semantic content a B1 learner could generalize; knowing 'car' only indicates a vehicle. The specific sense ‘luxurious railway sleeping/reclining car’ depends on cultural/encyclopedic knowledge of the Pullman company rather than compositional meaning, so learners who only know the constituents would not predict the MWE’s full meaning.
Etymology
Pullman car comes from the name of George Pullman, a man who built very comfortable sleeping and dining cars for trains. That's why people began to call any fancy train carriage a Pullman car, and today it means 'a luxury railway passenger car'.