tram1 /tram/ noun- An electrically-powered public vehicle running on rails in the road (also tramˈcar or tramway car)
- A truck used in mines
- A tramway
- A shaft of a barrow or cart
ORIGIN: Cf LGer traam beam, shaft, etc tram conductor noun tramˈline noun - The track on which a tram runs
- The route a tram takes
- (in pl) the lines marking the sides of a tennis or badminton court and the lines parallel to them inside the court
- (in pl) a rigid set of principles
tramˈlined adjective (informal) Running, or as if running, in tramlines, very straight, rigid and inflexible tramˈroad noun A track with sunken wooden, stone or metal rails (legally one not running along a road) tramˈ-stop noun A stopping-place for tramcars tramˈway noun - A track or system of tracks with sunken rails along a road
- A tramcar system
- A tramroad (esp US)
tram2 /tram/ noun Silk yarn for weft, of two or more strands ORIGIN: Fr trame, from L trāma weft tram4 /tram/ noun A device for adjusting or aligning a piece of machinery transitive verb (trammˈing; trammˈed) To adjust or align using a tram ORIGIN: A short form of trammel trammel /tramˈl/ noun- Anything that confines or hinders (usu in pl)
- A net whose inner fine-meshed layer is carried by the fish through the coarse-meshed outer layer, and encloses it in a pocket
- A fowling-net
- A hobble
- Shackles for making a horse amble
- An instrument for drawing an ellipse consisting of a metal or wooden beam with two adjustable pegs (also tram)
- A beam compass
- A series of adjustable rings or hooks suspended from a crossbeam in the chimney, for hanging kettles, cooking pots, etc above a fireplace
- (in pl) a tress
transitive verb (trammˈelling; trammˈelled)- To shackle
- To confine
- To impede or hinder
- To entangle, esp in a trammel
ORIGIN: OFr tramail a net, from LL tramacula, from L trēs three, and macula a mesh trammˈeller noun trammel net noun A trammel |