tram

/træm/

/træm/

Other forms: trams; tramming; trammed

A tram is a trolley or a streetcar—it's a vehicle that transports people using electricity from overhead cables while running on tracks that are set into the street.

In the U.S., you might also call a tram a cable car or light rail. If you've been on a streetcar in San Francisco or a trolley in Philadelphia, you've ridden a tram. The word tram was originally a Scottish term for the wagons that are used in coal mines, stemming from a Middle Flemish word meaning "rung or handle of a barrow."

Definitions of tram

1. noun

   a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is often propelled by electricity
   synonyms: streetcar, tramcar, trolley, trolley car

   types:

   horsecar

   an early form of streetcar that was drawn by horses

   type of:

   self-propelled vehicle

   a wheeled vehicle that carries in itself a means of propulsion
2. noun

   a conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers
   synonyms: aerial tramway, cable tramway, ropeway, tramway

   type of:

   conveyance, transport

   something that serves as a means of transportation
3. noun

   a four-wheeled wagon that runs on tracks in a mine
   synonyms: tramcar

   type of:

   waggon, wagon

   any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor
4. verb

   travel by tram
   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically