zigzag railway

noun

A formerly common type of railway with multiple switchbacks to allow ascent and descent on steep slopes.

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Meanings

nounzigzag railway (plural zigzag railways)

plural zigzag railways

  1. A formerly common type of railway with multiple switchbacks to allow ascent and descent on steep slopes.

    The temple, halfway up the Matheran hills, was approached by a 'puffing billy' train on a zigzag railway from Neral, two miles from Bombay.

    1969, Allen V. Ross, Vice in Bombay, London: Tallis Press, page 148
Cite this entry
APA

zigzag railway. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zigzag%20railway

MLA

“zigzag railway.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zigzag%20railway. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zigzag railway,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zigzag%20railway.

Source: zigzag railway on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.