Railcar

//ˈɹeɪlˌkɑɹ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A self-propelled railway vehicle for passengers, similar to a bus.

    "The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby."

  2. 2
    a wheeled vehicle adapted to the rails of railroad wordnet
  3. 3
    A powered single railway vehicle designed for passenger transport, with a driver's cab in both ends; Not to be confused with motor coach/motorcar, which is a powered railway vehicle capable to haul a train.
  4. 4
    Any unpowered railway vehicle.

Synonyms

All synonyms
railroad carcarcarmotorcarrailbusrailway car

Example

More examples

"The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby."

Etymology

From rail + car.

Related phrases

railway carriagerolling stock

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.