tram

views updated May 23 2018

tram / tram/ (also tram·car) • n. 1. Brit. a trolley car.2. a cable car.3. hist. a low four-wheeled cart or barrow used in coal mines.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

tram

views updated May 09 2018

tram Passenger carriage that runs on rails, which are usually sunk into the road. Horse-drawn trams first appeared in New York in 1832. Some later trams were powered by steam locomotives. Trams with electric motors, supplied by overhead cables, became common in the early 1900s. Motor buses and trolleybuses (which are not confined to rails) steadily became more popular, although many European cities retained tramway systems. With increasing concern about pollution and congestion, electric trams are attracting renewed interest.

World Encyclopedia

tram

views updated May 23 2018

tram2 (Sc.) shaft of a barrow or cart XVI; (coalmining, north.) frame or skeleton truck for carrying coal-baskets XVI; line or track or wood, stone, or iron, road laid with such lines, (short for tram-car) passenger car running on tramlines XIX. (in AL. trama XIV) — MLG., MDu. trame balk, beam, rung of a ladder, of unkn. orig.; the sense-development in Eng. is obscure.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

tram

views updated May 14 2018

tram1
A. †contrivance, lit. and fig. XIV;

B. loosely twisted silk thread used for weft XVII. In A. — (O)F. trame woof, cunning device, machination :- L. trāma woof; in B. a new adoption from modF.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

TRAM

views updated May 21 2018

TRAM Med. transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneus (breast reconstruction)

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH