railway

[reyl-wey] /ˈreɪlˌweɪ/
noun
1.
a rail line with lighter-weight equipment and roadbed than a main-line railroad.
2.
a railroad, especially one operating over relatively short distances.
3.
Also called trackway. any line or lines of rails forming a road of flanged-wheel equipment.
4.
Chiefly British, railroad.
Origin
1770-80; rail1 + way1
Related forms
railwayed, adjective
railwayless, adjective
interrailway, adjective
prerailway, adjective
unrailwayed, adjective
Examples from the web for railway
  • The railway's official hotel, walking distance to downtown.
  • Which is now deep in darkness, but the railway's there yet.
  • The railway garden and all plant collections are open for viewing.
  • These belts were to be made up of a series of small platform railway cars strung together.
  • He also improved lighthouse signaling and created a quick-release system for railway carriages.
  • The map on the right, under the railway tracks, shows the region's hiking trails.
  • They also serve as a kind of cellular railway network.
  • After blue lights were installed on station platforms and near railway crossings, the number of suicide attempts dropped to zero.
  • There's a bunch of railway workers stuck in a tunnel and a trolley hurtling towards them.
  • Once, the hunter had happened to see two ants dragging an iron filing from the railway line: it seems that ants even need iron.
British Dictionary definitions for railway

railway

/ˈreɪlˌweɪ/
noun
1.
a permanent track composed of a line of parallel metal rails fixed to sleepers, for transport of passengers and goods in trains
2.
any track on which the wheels of a vehicle may run: a cable railway
3.
the entire equipment, rolling stock, buildings, property, and system of tracks used in such a transport system
4.
the organization responsible for operating a railway network
5.
(modifier) of, relating to, or used on a railway or railways: a railway engine, a railway strike
Word Origin and History for railway
n.

1812 in modern sense, from rail (n.1) + way. Earlier used of any sort of road on which rails (originally wooden) were laid for easier transport (1776).