switchman
1
7.9
- noun
- /ˈswɪtʃmən/
- US
:
cambiador
- Her mother was a housewife, and her father worked as a railroad switchman—Jean liked to tag along and watch him communicate by Morse Code—and later as a painter.
- railroad switchman
Examples
-
My uncle was a switchman on the railroad.
Blog text (34) -
Mr. Ball is questioning Lee Bowers, the switchman in the railroad yard.
Fiction book (1991) -
When he came running up to us, the yard switchman was beside himself and said he was going to resign before taking another chance on killing somebody.
Fiction book (1999) -
Everything seemed possible: time was roiling, seething, expanding - the lawyer got shot hunting ducks, the owner of the sheep had fled to America, the druggist had caught his wife in bed with his brother, the rabbi's son became a railway switchman.
Fiction book (1997) -
My uncle was a switchman on the railroad, helping to direct trains safely.
-
"Her father was a switchman for the Illinois Central, operating the crucial track switches."
-
As a switchman, he was responsible for ensuring that trains were directed to the correct tracks.
Synonyms
2
8.1
A person who operates signals and switches for trains
A woman who tells trains when to stop or go and moves track switches in a rail yard
A railway yard worker who controls and fixes signals and track switches
A person who works in a railway yard arranging trains and freight
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word switchman is just switch ('to change or move to another thing') plus man ('person'). Think of a light switch that changes something, and you get a switchman: the person who changes the railroad switches to send trains onto a different track.