train

v. i. 1. To be drilled in military exercises; to do duty in a military company. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To prepare by exercise, diet, instruction, etc., for any physical contest; as, to train for a boat race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. train, OF. traïn, trahin; cf. (for some of the senses) F. traine. See Train, v. ] 1. That which draws along; especially, persuasion, artifice, or enticement; allurement. [ Obs. ] “Now to my charms, and to my wily trains.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, something tied to a lure to entice a hawk; also, a trap for an animal; a snare. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

With cunning trains him to entrap un wares. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is drawn along in the rear of, or after, something; that which is in the hinder part or rear. Specifically : -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) That part of a gown which trails behind the wearer. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) (Mil.) The after part of a gun carriage; the trail. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) The tail of a bird. “The train steers their flights, and turns their bodies, like the rudder of ship.” Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A number of followers; a body of attendants; a retinue; a suite. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king's daughter with a lovely train. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

My train are men of choice and rarest parts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A consecution or succession of connected things; a series. “A train of happy sentiments.” I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The train of ills our love would draw behind it. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rivers now
Stream and perpetual draw their humid train. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Other truths require a train of ideas placed in order. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Regular method; process; course; order; as, things now in a train for settlement. [ 1913 Webster ]

If things were once in this train, . . . our duty would take root in our nature. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The number of beats of a watch in any certain time. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A line of gunpowder laid to lead fire to a charge, mine, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A connected line of cars or carriages on a railroad; -- called also railroad train. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A heavy, long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Rolling Mill) A roll train; as, a 12-inch train. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Mil.) The aggregation of men, animals, and vehicles which accompany an army or one of its subdivisions, and transport its baggage, ammunition, supplies, and reserve materials of all kinds. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Roll train, or
Train of rolls (Rolling Mill), a set of plain or grooved rolls for rolling metal into various forms by a series of consecutive operations. --
Train mile (Railroads), a unit employed in estimating running expenses, etc., being one of the total number of miles run by all the trains of a road, or system of roads, as within a given time, or for a given expenditure; -- called also mile run. --
Train of artillery, any number of cannon, mortars, etc., with the attendants and carriages which follow them into the field. Campbell (Dict. Mil. Sci.). --
Train of mechanism, a series of moving pieces, as wheels and pinions, each of which is follower to that which drives it, and driver to that which follows it. --
Train road, a slight railway for small cars, -- used for construction, or in mining. --
Train tackle (Naut.), a tackle for running guns in and out. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Cars. -- Train, Cars. At one time “train” meaning railroad train was also referred to in the U. S. by the phrase “the cars”. In the 1913 dictionary the usage was described thus: “Train is the word universally used in England with reference to railroad traveling; as, I came in the morning train. In the United States, the phrase the cars has been extensively introduced in the room of train; as, the cars are late; I came in the cars. The English expression is obviously more appropriate, and is prevailing more and more among Americans, to the exclusion of the cars.” [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Capable of being trained or educated; as, boys trainable to virtue. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Trainbands A band or company of an organized military force instituted by James I. and dissolved by Charles II.; -- afterwards applied to the London militia. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He felt that, without some better protection than that of the trainbands and Beefeaters, his palace and person would hardly be secure. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

A trainband captain eke was he
Of famous London town. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who holds up a train, as of a robe. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An official who gives the orders on a railroad as to the running of trains and their right of way. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OF. ] A dragnet. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who trains; an instructor; especially, one who trains or prepares men, horses, etc., for exercises requiring physical agility and strength. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A militiaman when called out for exercise or discipline. [ U. S. ] Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]