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tram - 13 dictionary results

tram

1  [tram] ,noun, verb, trammed, tram⋅ming.
Use tram in a Sentence
–noun
1. British. a streetcar.
2. a tramway; tramroad.
3. Also called tram⋅car  [tram-kahr] . a truck or car on rails for carrying loads in a mine.
4. the vehicle or cage of an overhead carrier.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
5. to convey or travel by tram.
Origin:
1490–1500 for an earlier sense; 1820–30 for def. 2; orig. shafts of a barrow or cart, rails for carts (in mines); perh. < MD trame beam

Related forms:
tramless, adjective

tram

2  [tram] ,noun, verb, trammed, tram⋅ming.
–noun
1. trammel (def. 3).
–verb (used with object)
2. Machinery. to adjust (something) correctly.
Origin:
1880–85; short for trammel

tram

3  [tram] ,
–noun
silk that has been slightly or loosely twisted, used weftwise in weaving silk fabrics.
Compare organzine.

Origin:
1300–50 for an earlier sense; 1670–80 for current sense; ME tram(m)e machination, contrivance < OF traime weft, cunning contrivance < L trāma warp

tram⋅mel

  [tram-uhl] noun, verb, -meled, -mel⋅ing or (especially British) -melled, -mel⋅ling.
–noun
1. Usually, trammels. a hindrance or impediment to free action; restraint: the trammels of custom.
2. an instrument for drawing ellipses.
3. Also called tram. a device used to align or adjust parts of a machine.
4. trammel net.
5. a fowling net.
6. a contrivance hung in a fireplace to support pots or kettles over the fire.
7. a fetter or shackle, esp. one used in training a horse to amble.
–verb (used with object)
8. to involve or hold in trammels; restrain.
9. to catch or entangle in or as in a net.
Origin:
1325–75; ME tramayle < MF tramail, var. of tremail three-mesh net < LL trēmaculum, equiv. to L trē(s) three + macula mesh

Related forms:
tram⋅mel⋅er; especially British, tram⋅mel⋅ler, noun

Synonyms:
1. drag, hobble, curb, inhibition. 8. hinder, impede, obstruct, encumber.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tram
tram 1   (trām)   
n.  
  1. Chiefly British
    1. A streetcar.
    2. A streetcar line.
  2. A cable car, especially one suspended from an overhead cable.
  3. A four-wheeled, open, box-shaped wagon or iron car run on tracks in a coal mine.
tr.v.   trammed, tram·ming, trams
To move or convey in a tram.

[Scots, shaft of a barrow, probably from Middle Flemish.]
tram 2   (trām)   
n.  
  1. An instrument for gauging and adjusting machine parts; a trammel.
  2. Accurate mechanical adjustment: The device is in tram.
tr.v.   trammed, tram·ming, trams
To adjust or align (mechanical parts) with a trammel.

[Short for trammel.]
tram 3   (trām)   
n.  A heavy silk thread used for the weft, or cross threads, in fine velvet or silk.

[Middle English, contrivance, from Old French traime, contrivance, weft, from Latin trāma, weft, woof.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tram

Tram\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Tramming.] To convey or transport on a tramway or on a tram car.

Tram

Tram\, v. i. To operate, or conduct the business of, a tramway; to travel by tramway.

Tram

Tram\, n. (Mech.) Same as Trammel, n., 6.

Tram

Tram\, n. [Prov. E. tram a coal wagon, the shaft of a cart or carriage, a beam or bar; probably of Scand, origin; cf. OSw. tr[*a]m, trum, a beam, OD. drom, Prov. & OHG. tram.]

1. A four-wheeled truck running on rails, and used in a mine, as for carrying coal or ore.

2. The shaft of a cart. [Prov. Eng.] --De Quincey.

3. One of the rails of a tramway.

4. A car on a horse railroad. [Eng.]

Tram car, a car made to run on a tramway, especially a street railway car.

Tram plate, a flat piece of iron laid down as a rail.

Tram pot (Milling), the step and support for the lower end of the spindle of a millstone.

Tram

Tram\, n. [Sp. trama weft, or F. trame.] A silk thread formed of two or more threads twisted together, used especially for the weft, or cross threads, of the best quality of velvets and silk goods.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tram
Spanish: tranvía,
German: die Straßenbahn,
Japanese: 市街電車
More Translations »

tram 
c.1500, "beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge," also "a barrow or truck body" (1516), Scottish, originally in reference to the iron trucks used in coal mines, probably from Middle Flemish tram "beam, handle of a barrow, bar, rung," a North Sea Gmc. word of unknown origin. The sense of "track for a barrow, tramway" is first recorded 1826; that of "streetcar" is first recorded 1860. Tram-car is attested from 1873.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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