Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Definition of Pullman - 6 dictionary results

Pull⋅man

[pool-muhn] plural -mans for 1, 2.
1. Trademark. a railroad sleeping car or parlor car.
–noun
2. (often lowercase) Also called Pullman case. a large suitcase.
3. George Mortimer, 1831–97, U.S. inventor and railroad car designer.

Pull⋅man

[pool-muhn]
–noun
a city in SE Washington. 23,579.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Pullman
pull·man   (pŏŏl'mən)   
adj.  Small, long, and narrow in architectural design: a pullman hall; a pullman kitchen.

[From its resemblance to a Pullman railroad car.]
Pullman   (pŏŏl'mən)   
n.  
  1. A railroad parlor car or sleeping car. Also called Pullman car.

  2. A large suitcase. Also called Pullman case.


[After George Mortimer Pullman (1831-1897), American industrialist and inventor.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

Pullman 
sleeping car on a passenger train, 1867, Pullman car, in allusion to U.S. inventor George M. Pullman (1831-97) of Chicago, who designed a railroad car with folding berths.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

Pullman

city, Whitman county, southeastern Washington, U.S. It lies at the edge of a major wheat belt, on the South Fork of the Palouse River, near Moscow, Idaho, and the Idaho state line. It was settled in 1875 by Bolin Farr, who in 1882 laid out the town of Three Forks (so named for the confluence of Missouri Flat Creek, Dry Fork Creek, and the South Fork of the Palouse). Renamed for George M. Pullman, inventor of the railroad sleeping car, it was reached by a railroad spur in 1885 and suffered a disastrous fire in 1890. Later it became a major stop on the Northern Pacific Railway and developed as a shipping point for grain and livestock. Washington State University (which began there in 1890 as a land-grant agricultural college) adds significantly to the city's economy. Inc. 1888. Pop. (1990) 23,478; (2000) 24,675.

Learn more about Pullman with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see Pullman on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: