rail-splitter

[ reyl-split-er ]

noun
  1. a person or thing that splits logs into rails, especially for fences.

  2. Rail-splitter, nickname of Abraham Lincoln.

Origin of rail-splitter

1
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; rail1 + splitter

Words Nearby rail-splitter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rail-splitter in a sentence

  • The young rail-splitter had also a knack of slaughtering hogs, for which he received thirty cents a day.

  • These rails have become classical in our history, and the name of rail-splitter has been more than the degree of a college.

  • Twice she read the life of Abraham Lincoln, the humble backwoodsman rail-splitter who became president.

    The Fall of a Nation | Thomas Dixon
  • The humble rail splitter had returned to his home town in kingly triumph.

    The New Land | Elma Ehrlich Levinger
  • People who doubted the will or the wisdom of their rail-splitter Candidate need have had no fear.