Funicular
adj, noun
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A particular type of rail transit system which ascends a steep urban or mountain incline, having usually two cars sharing a single pair of tracks, with the cars linked by a moving cable and an arrangement of pulleys such that the descending car assists in the hoisting of the ascending car, i.e. the two cars serve as counterweights for each other.
"England's funiculars mostly hug the coast, and this is no coincidence. The development of the Victorian and Edwardian seaside resort played a central role in the uptake of funicular railways across England."
- 2 a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of, pertaining to, resembling, or powered by a rope or cable. not-comparable
- 2 Of or pertaining to the umbilical cord. not-comparable
- 3 Having a fleshy covering of the seed formed from the funiculus, the attachment point of the seed. not-comparable
- 4 Synonym of catenary. not-comparable
Adjective
- 1 relating to or operated by a cable wordnet
Example
More examples"England's funiculars mostly hug the coast, and this is no coincidence. The development of the Victorian and Edwardian seaside resort played a central role in the uptake of funicular railways across England."
Etymology
From Latin fūniculus (“thinner cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“rope, cord”) + -culus.
Related phrases
More for "funicular"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.