Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A public vehicle operated on rails along a regular route, usually through the streets of a city.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A tram or light rail vehicle, usually a single car, but also attached together, operating on city streets. A trolley car.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

street + car

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Examples

Comments

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  • A word that evokes an earlier time when everyone used public transportation; that conjures up the big city, with its welcoming anonymity and the promise of small, or sometimes big, adventures.

    November 29, 2007

  • Not to mention the occasional neurotic Southern Belle, depending on the kindness of strangers to collect the necessary fare.

    November 30, 2007

  • A Streetcar Named ... Survival?

    Perhaps I'm morbid but I think the stats are fascinating. Basis for a list?

    April 22, 2009

  • Of course! It could be gruesome and macabre, just like sionnach says my Pregnancy list is. :) Then we could make a list of gruesome and macabre lists! And tag it!! And make a list of the tags! And tag THAT!! *hyperventilates*

    April 22, 2009

  • *passes paper bag*

    April 22, 2009

  • Thanks. *whew*

    April 22, 2009

  • Oddly enough, I just randomed this page.

    April 22, 2009

  • Reading that page, it seemed obvious that the "most feared" causes of death are all violent, sudden, unexpected (perhaps), and horrifying, while the six "most common" causes of death (except motor-vehicle accidents) are pretty long-term and—for lack of a better word ... boring. I wonder if that discrepancy has anything to do with the "most feared" status.

    (I fear dying in a car crash all the time—or in a plane crash, or a house fire.)

    April 23, 2009

  • *waits patiently for gruesome and macabre list*

    *fears reading gruesome and macabre list but doesn't fear dying from reading it*

    April 23, 2009

  • *ponders*

    *decides that combining gruesome and macabre causes of death list with pregnancy list would be rather too gruesome and macabre*

    April 23, 2009

  • *thinks chained_bear may be right about that gruesome and macabre stuff*

    April 23, 2009