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railroad

 [reyl-rohd]   Origin

rail·road

   [reyl-rohd]
noun
1.
a permanent road laid with rails, commonly in one or more pairs of continuous lines forming a track or tracks, on which locomotives and cars are run for the transportation of passengers, freight, and mail.
2.
an entire system of such roads together with its rolling stock, buildings, etc.; the entire railway plant, including fixed and movable property.
3.
the company of persons owning or operating such a plant.
4.
Bowling. a split.
5.
railroads, stocks or bonds of railroad companies.
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Ad
verb (used with object)
6.
to transport by means of a railroad.
7.
to supply with railroads.
8.
Informal. to push (a law or bill) hastily through a legislature so that there is not time enough for objections to be considered.
9.
Informal. to convict (a person) in a hasty manner by means of false charges or insufficient evidence: The prisoner insisted he had been railroaded.

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Railroad is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
verb (used without object)
10.
to work on a railroad.
Origin:
1750–60; 1875–85 for def. 9; rail1 + road

Related forms
non·rail·road, adjective
pre·rail·road, adjective
pro·rail·road, adjective
un·rail·road·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To railroad
Collins
World English Dictionary
railroad (ˈreɪlˌrəʊd)
 
—n
1.  the usual US word for railway
 
—vb
2.  informal (tr) to force (a person) into (an action) with haste or by unfair means

railway or (US) railroad (ˈreɪlˌweɪ)
 
—n
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
 
railroad or (US) railroad
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

railroad
1757, from rail (n.1) + road. Originally "road laid with rails for heavy wagons (in mining)." The system itself seems to have been in use by late 17c. Application to passenger and freight trains dates from 1825, though tending to be replaced in this
EXPAND
sense in England by railway (1812). The verb meaning "to convict quickly and perhaps unjustly" is from 1884.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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