freighthopping

or freight hop·ping

[ freyt-hop-ing ]

noun

1. the act of illegally and surreptitiously boarding and riding in or on a car of a freight train:

   After months of freighthopping around the West, I settled down to write a book.

Other Words From

• freight·hop·per noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of freighthopping¹

First recorded in 1915–20; freight ( def ), hopping ( def ) (in the sense “going from place to place”)

Example Sentences

The singer-songwriter, 35, began freighthopping when she was 23 years old after befriending some itinerant musicians in her hometown Charleston, W.Va.

From Los Angeles Times