cowcatchernoun [ C ]
uk/ˈkaʊˌkætʃ.ər/us/ˈkaʊˌkætʃ.ɚ/USa strong metal frame attached to the front of a train that pushes objects off the track as the train moves forward
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Railways: trains & parts of trains
- air brake
- baggage car
- bogie
- boiler
- bullet train
- choo-choo
- coach
- commuter train
- couchette
- diesel
- emergency cord
- freight car
- intercity
- maglev train
- rolling stock
- shunt
- shuttle
- sleeping car
- truck
- wagon-lit
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Examples from literature
- As many wounded as possible were piled on to the engine, standing in the cab, lying on the tender, or clinging to the cowcatcher.
- Freight-trains passed southward, blue with men in the cars, and on top of the cars, and in the caboose, and on the cowcatcher, always going south and never north.
- I could only place stones on the line, but these were swept away by the cowcatcher, and so the train passed in safety.
- The engine itself had most of the cowcatcher torn off and the headlight smashed.
- Then I approached a station where the fireman always went out to the cowcatcher, opened the oil-cup on the steam-chest, and poured oil in.