Search Result for "railway": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight;
[syn: railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway system]

2. a line of track providing a runway for wheels;
- Example: "he walked along the railroad track"
[syn: railroad track, railroad, railway]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Railroad \Rail"road`\ (r[=a]l"r[=o]d`), Railway \Rail"way`\ (r[=a]l"w[=a]`), n. 1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure. [1913 Webster] Note: The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway. [1913 Webster] 2. The road, track, etc., with all the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, a certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver. [1913 Webster] Note: Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States. [1913 Webster] Note: In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: [1913 Webster] Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See under Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. Ferry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, for carrying a train of cars across a water course. Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. [U.S.] Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. [Eng.] Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. Railway slide. See Transfer table, under Transfer. Railway spine (Med.), an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterized by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, -- the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. Underground railroad Underground railway. (a) A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city. (b) Formerly, a system of cooperation among certain active antislavery people in the United States prior to 1866, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada. Note: [In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was usually used.] "Their house was a principal entrep[^o]t of the underground railroad." --W. D. Howells. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

railway n 1: line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight [syn: railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway system] 2: a line of track providing a runway for wheels; "he walked along the railroad track" [syn: railroad track, railroad, railway]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

45 Moby Thesaurus words for "railway": L, branch, cable railway, cog railway, el, electric railway, elevated, elevated railway, embankment, feeder, feeder line, gravity-operated railway, horse railway, junction, light railroad, line, main line, metro, monorail, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway, rail, rail line, railroad, roadbed, roadway, sidetrack, siding, street railway, streetcar line, subway, switchback, terminal, terminus, track, train, tram, tramline, trestle, trolley line, trunk, trunk line, tube, turnout, underground
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

RAILWAY. A road made with iron rails or other suitable materials. 2. Railways are to be constructed and used as directed by the legislative acts creating them. 3. In general, a railroad company may take lands for the purpose of making a road when authorized by the charter, by paying a just value for the same. 8 S. & M. 649. 4. For most purposes a railroad is a public highway, but it may be the subject of private property, and it has been held that it may be sold as such, unless the sale be forbidden by the legislature; not the franchise, but the land constituting the road. 5 Iredell, 297. In. general, however, the public can only have a right of way for it is not essential that the public should enjoy the land itself, namely, its treasures, minerals, and the like, as these would add nothing to the convenience of the public. 5. Railroad companies, like all other principals, are liable for the acts of their agents, while in their employ, but they can not be made responsible for accidents which could not be avoided. 2 Iredell, 234; 2 McMullan, 403.