Headchair
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Part of a block switch on a railway line that the ends of the moveable rails rest on, and to which the stationary rails are attached.
"I desire to be understood'as disclaimin g the broad features, first, of making a railway headchair with bearing-cheeks of different heights, one for the flange and the other for the tread of a car-wheel, whereby, in passing over theswitch on either the main or the side track rail, the wheel will have bearing upon respective cheek of the chair; and, second, of providing such side bearings with detachable wearing surfaces, either inclined, plane, or grooved."
Example
More examples"I desire to be understood'as disclaimin g the broad features, first, of making a railway headchair with bearing-cheeks of different heights, one for the flange and the other for the tread of a car-wheel, whereby, in passing over theswitch on either the main or the side track rail, the wheel will have bearing upon respective cheek of the chair; and, second, of providing such side bearings with detachable wearing surfaces, either inclined, plane, or grooved."
Etymology
From head + chair.
More for "headchair"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.