Train definition | Dictionary.com

Synonyms

tail, trail, wake, entourage, following, suite, chain, course, order, procession, progression, round

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Train - 11 dictionary results

train

[treyn]

–noun

1.	Railroads. a self-propelled, connected group of rolling stock.

2.	a line or procession of persons, vehicles, animals, etc., traveling together.

3.	Military. an aggregation of vehicles, animals, and personnel accompanying an army to carry supplies, baggage, ammunition, etc.

4.	a series or row of objects or parts.

5.	Machinery. a connected set of three or more rotating elements, usually gears, through which force is transmitted, or motion or torque changed.

6.	order, esp. proper order: Matters were in good train.

7.	something that is drawn along; a trailing part.

8.	an elongated part of a skirt or robe trailing behind on the ground.

9.	a trail or stream of something from a moving object.

10.	a line or succession of persons or things following one after the other.

11.	a body of followers or attendants; retinue.

12.	a series of proceedings, events, ideas, etc.

13.	the series of results or circumstances following or proceeding from an event, action, etc.; aftermath: Disease came in the train of war.

14.	a succession of connected ideas; a course of reasoning: to lose one's train of thought.

15.

Astronomy.

a.	the trace of light created by a meteor falling through the earth's atmosphere.

b.	the tail of a comet.

16.	a line of combustible material, as gunpowder, for leading fire to an explosive charge.

17.	Physics. a succession of wave fronts, oscillations, or the like.

–verb (used with object)

18.	to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior of (a child or other person) by discipline and instruction: to train an unruly boy.

19.	to make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work: to train soldiers.

20.	to make (a person) fit by proper exercise, diet, practice, etc., as for an athletic performance.

21.	to discipline and instruct (an animal), as in the performance of tasks or tricks.

22.	to treat or manipulate so as to bring into some desired form, position, direction, etc.: to train one's hair to stay down.

23.	Horticulture. to bring (a plant, branch, etc.) into a particular shape or position, by bending, pruning, or the like.

24.	to bring to bear on some object; point, aim, or direct, as a firearm, camera, telescope, or eye.

25.	to entice; allure.

–verb (used without object)

26.	to give the discipline and instruction, drill, practice, etc., designed to impart proficiency or efficiency.

27.	to undergo discipline and instruction, drill, etc.

28.	to get oneself into condition for an athletic performance through exercise, diet, practice, etc.

29.	to travel or go by train: to train to New York.

Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) late ME traynyn to pull or drag in the rear < MF trainer, OF tra(h)iner < VL *tragīnāre, deriv. of *tragīna something dragged or drawn (cf. ML tragīna carriage), deriv. of *tragere to pull, for L trahere; (n.) ME train, traine < OF tra(h)in (masc.) series of people, animals, or things, tra(h)ine (fem.) something dragged behind, both deriv. of tra(h)iner

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Train

Spanish:

tren,

German:

der Zug,

Japanese:

列車

View 30 other languages »

train (trān) Pronunciation Key
n.

A series of connected railroad cars pulled or pushed by one or more locomotives.
A long line of moving people, animals, or vehicles.
The personnel, vehicles, and equipment following and providing supplies and services to a combat unit.
A part of a gown that trails behind the wearer.
A staff of people following in attendance; a retinue.
1. An orderly succession of related events or thoughts; a sequence. See Synonyms at series.
2. A series of consequences wrought by an event; aftermath.
A set of linked mechanical parts: a train of gears.
A string of gunpowder that acts as a fuse for exploding a charge.

v. trained, train·ing, trains

v. tr.

To coach in or accustom to a mode of behavior or performance.
To make proficient with specialized instruction and practice. See Synonyms at teach.
To prepare physically, as with a regimen: train athletes for track-and-field competition.
To cause (a plant or one's hair) to take a desired course or shape, as by manipulating.
To focus on or aim at (a goal, mark, or target); direct. See Synonyms at aim.
To let drag behind; trail.

v. intr.

To give or undergo a course of training: trained daily for the marathon.
To travel by railroad train.

[Middle English, trailing part of a gown, from Old French, from trainer, to drag, from Vulgar Latin *tragīnāre, from *tragere, to pull, back-formation from tractus, past participle of Latin trahere.]
train'a·bil'i·ty n., train'a·ble adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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train (n.)

c.1330, "a drawing out, delay," later "trailing part of a skirt" (c.1440), also "retinue, procession" (c.1440), from O.Fr. train (fem. traine), from trainer "to pull, draw," from V.L. *traginare, extended from *tragere "to pull," back formation from tractus, pp. of L. trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (1)). Train of thought first attested 1651. The railroad sense is recorded from 1824, from notion of a "train" of carriages. British train-spotting "hobby of observing trains and recording locomotive numbers" is recorded from 1958.

train (v.)

"instruct, discipline, teach," 1542, from train (n.), probably from earlier sense of "draw out and manipulate in order to bring to a desired form" (1375). The meaning "to travel by railway" is recorded from 1856. Trainer is recorded from 1598; trainee from 1841.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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train
noun
1.	public transport provided by a line of railway cars coupled together and drawn by a locomotive; "express trains don't stop at Princeton Junction"
2.	a sequentially ordered set of things or events or ideas in which each successive member is related to the preceding; "a string of islands"; "train of mourners"; "a train of thought" [syn: string]
3.	a procession (of wagons or mules or camels) traveling together in single file; "we were part of a caravan of almost a thousand camels"; "they joined the wagon train for safety" [syn: caravan]
4.	a series of consequences wrought by an event; "it led to a train of disasters"
5.	piece of cloth forming the long back section of a gown that is drawn along the floor; "the bride's train was carried by her two young nephews"
6.	wheelwork consisting of a connected set of rotating gears by which force is transmitted or motion or torque is changed; "the fool got his tie caught in the geartrain" [syn: gearing]
verb
1.	create by training and teaching; "The old master is training world-class violinists"; "we develop the leaders for the future"
2.	undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession; "She is training to be a teacher"; "He trained as a legal aid"
3.	develop (children's) behavior by instruction and practice; especially to teach self-control; "Parents must discipline their children"; "Is this dog trained?" [syn: discipline]
4.	educate for a future role or function; "He is grooming his son to become his successor"; "The prince was prepared to become King one day"; "They trained him to be a warrior" [syn: prepare]
5.	teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment; "Cultivate your musical taste"; "Train your tastebuds"; "She is well schooled in poetry" [syn: educate]
6.	point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards; "Please don't aim at your little brother!"; "He trained his gun on the burglar"; "Don't train your camera on the women"; "Take a swipe at one's opponent" [syn: aim]
7.	teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports; "He is training our Olympic team"; "She is coaching the crew" [syn: coach]
8.	exercise in order to prepare for an event or competition; "She is training for the Olympics"
9.	cause to grow in a certain way by tying and pruning it; "train the vine"
10.	travel by rail or train; "They railed from Rome to Venice"; "She trained to Hamburg"
11.	drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground; "The toddler was trailing his pants"; "She trained her long scarf behind her" [syn: trail]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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train

In addition to the idiom beginning with train, also see gravy train.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Au Train, MI (township, FIPS 00304460)
Location: (46.353085, -86.751911)
Population (2000): 1,172 (991 housing units)
Area: 142.052796 sq mi (land), 23.449215 sq mi (water)
Zip code(s): 49806

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
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Train

Train\, n. 1. A heavy long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like.

2. (Mil.) The aggregation of men, animals, and vehicles which accompany an army or one of its subdivisions, and transport its baggage, ammunition, supplies, and reserve materials of all kinds.

Train

Train\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trained; p. pr. & vb. n. Training.] [OF. trahiner, tra["i]ner,F. tra[^i]ner, LL. trahinare, trainare, fr. L. trahere to draw. See Trail.]

1. To draw along; to trail; to drag.

In hollow cube Training his devilish enginery. --Milton.

2. To draw by persuasion, artifice, or the like; to attract by stratagem; to entice; to allure. [Obs.]

If but a dozen French Were there in arms, they would be as a call To train ten thousand English to their side. --Shak.

O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note. --Shak.

This feast, I'll gage my life, Is but a plot to train you to your ruin. --Ford.

3. To teach and form by practice; to educate; to exercise; to discipline; as, to train the militia to the manual exercise; to train soldiers to the use of arms.

Our trained bands, which are the trustiest and most proper strength of a free nation. --Milton.

The warrior horse here bred he's taught to train. --Dryden.

4. To break, tame, and accustom to draw, as oxen.

5. (Hort.) To lead or direct, and form to a wall or espalier; to form to a proper shape, by bending, lopping, or pruning; as, to train young trees.

He trained the young branches to the right hand or to the left. --Jeffrey.

6. (Mining) To trace, as a lode or any mineral appearance, to its head.

To train a gun (Mil. & Naut.), to point it at some object either forward or else abaft the beam, that is, not directly on the side. --Totten.

To train, or To train up, to educate; to teach; to form by instruction or practice; to bring up.

Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. --Prov. xxii. 6.

The first Christians were, by great hardships, trained up for glory. --Tillotson.

Train

Train\, v. i. 1. To be drilled in military exercises; to do duty in a military company.

2. To prepare by exercise, diet, instruction, etc., for any physical contest; as, to train for a boat race.

Train

Train\, n. [F. train, OF. tra["i]n, trahin; cf. (for some of the senses) F. traine. See Train, v.]

1. That which draws along; especially, persuasion, artifice, or enticement; allurement. [Obs.] "Now to my charms, and to my wily trains." --Milton.

2. Hence, something tied to a lure to entice a hawk; also, a trap for an animal; a snare. --Halliwell.

With cunning trains him to entrap un wares. --Spenser.

3. That which is drawn along in the rear of, or after, something; that which is in the hinder part or rear. Specifically : (a) That part of a gown which trails behind the wearer. (b) (Mil.) The after part of a gun carriage; the trail. (c) The tail of a bird. "The train steers their flights, and turns their bodies, like the rudder of ship." --Ray.

4. A number of followers; a body of attendants; a retinue; a suite.

The king's daughter with a lovely train. --Addison.

My train are men of choice and rarest parts. --Shak.

5. A consecution or succession of connected things; a series. "A train of happy sentiments." --I. Watts.

The train of ills our love would draw behind it. --Addison.

Rivers now Stream and perpetual draw their humid train. --Milton.

Other truths require a train of ideas placed in order. --Locke.

6. Regular method; process; course; order; as, things now in a train for settlement.

If things were once in this train, . . . our duty would take root in our nature. --Swift.

7. The number of beats of a watch in any certain time.

8. A line of gunpowder laid to lead fire to a charge, mine, or the like.

9. A connected line of cars or carriages on a railroad.

10. A heavy, long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like.

11. (Rolling Mill) A roll train; as, a 12-inch train.

Roll train, or Train of rolls (Rolling Mill), a set of plain or grooved rolls for rolling metal into various forms by a series of consecutive operations.

Train mile (Railroads), a unit employed in estimating running expenses, etc., being one of the total number of miles run by all the trains of a road, or system of roads, as within a given time, or for a given expenditure; -- called also mile run.

Train of artillery, any number of cannon, mortars, etc., with the attendants and carriages which follow them into the field. --Campbell (Dict. Mil. Sci.).

Train of mechanism, a series of moving pieces, as wheels and pinions, each of which is follower to that which drives it, and driver to that which follows it.

Train road, a slight railway for small cars, -- used for construction, or in mining.

Train tackle (Naut.), a tackle for running guns in and out.

Syn: Cars.

Usage: Train, Cars. Train is the word universally used in England with reference to railroad traveling; as, I came in the morning train. In the United States, the phrase the cars has been extensively introduced in the room of train; as, the cars are late; I came in the cars. The English expression is obviously more appropriate, and is prevailing more and more among Americans, to the exclusion of the cars.

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