trolley

[ trol-ee ]

noun

, plural trol·leys.

1. trolley car.
2. a pulley or truck traveling on an overhead track and serving to support and move a suspended object.
3. a grooved metallic wheel or pulley carried on the end of a pole trolley pole by an electric car or locomotive, and held in contact with an overhead conductor, usually a suspended wire trolley wire, from which it collects the current for the propulsion of the car or locomotive.
4. any of various devices for collecting current for such a purpose, as a pantograph, or a bowlike structure bow trolley sliding along an overhead wire, or a device underground trolley for taking current from the underground wire or conductor used by some electric railways.
5. a small truck or car operated on a track, as in a mine or factory.
6. a serving cart, as one used to serve desserts.
7. Chiefly British. any of various low carts or vehicles, as a railway handcar or costermonger's cart.

verb (used with or without object)

, trol·leyed, trol·ley·ing.

1. to convey or go by trolley.

trolley

/ ˈtrɒlɪ /

noun

1. a small table on casters used for conveying food, drink, etc
2. a wheeled cart or stand pushed by hand and used for moving heavy items, such as shopping in a supermarket or luggage at a railway station
3. (in a hospital) a bed mounted on casters and used for moving patients who are unconscious, immobilized, etc
4. See trolleybus
5. See trolley car
6. a device that collects the current from an overhead wire ( trolley wire ), third rail, etc, to drive the motor of an electric vehicle
7. a pulley or truck that travels along an overhead wire in order to support a suspended load
8. a low truck running on rails, used in factories, mines, etc, and on railways
9. a truck, cage, or basket suspended from an overhead track or cable for carrying loads in a mine, quarry, etc
10. off one's trolley slang.
    1. mentally confused or disorganized
    2. insane

verb

1. tr to transport (a person or object) on a trolley

Word History and Origins

Origin of trolley¹

First recorded in 1815–25; originally dialect; apparently akin to troll ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of trolley¹

C19: probably from troll ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. off one's trolley, Slang.
   1. in a confused mental state.
   2. insane:

      He's been off his trolley for years, but his family refuses to have him committed.

More idioms and phrases containing trolley

see off one's head (trolley) .

Example Sentences

The early-stage startup has invented tech that attaches to the trolley and uses cameras to detect and label products, adding them to a virtual cart where shoppers can checkout without ever interacting with a human or waiting in a line.

From TechCrunch

There was a period in the late 1980s, Dave Schumacher, the former San Diego Association of Governments principle planner, told us in 2013, that regional planners contemplated building a trolley spur to the airport.

From Voice of San Diego

The Metropolitan Transit System is on the verge of hiring a new security firm to help patrol bus and trolley stations that has touted a record free of troubling use-of-force incidents.

From Voice of San Diego

The Housing Commission also ran ads on billboards, bus benches, in community newspapers and inside trolleys and buses in both English and Spanish.

From Voice of San Diego

The agency once said it would improve trolley service along the Blue Line in the South Bay, and to construct a new Purple Line along the I-805 corridor.

From Voice of San Diego

Mubarak was present, wheeled in on a hospital trolley and wearing his trademark sunglasses.

From The Daily Beast

There, Orange Scott ran the interurban, a turn-of-the-century electric trolley line that connected the boomtown with its exurbs.

From The Daily Beast

Four men in army uniform are seen loading massive safes onto a trolley.

From The Daily Beast

A male suicide bomber was also believed to have detonated the Monday blast, which decimated the back half of a trolley bus.

From The Daily Beast

Nico steered a luggage trolley piled high with Pippa's bags through the arrivals hall.

From The Daily Beast

The great Dam at Assouan was just completed and we traversed its entire length on a trolley propelled by natives.

From Project Gutenberg

Presently the thought of the cool trolley-run to the Lake grew irresistible, and they struggled out of the theatre.

From Project Gutenberg

The trolley is an articulated frame 77 ft. long in five sections coupled together with pins.

From Project Gutenberg

I thought how at college I used to hear from my chamber the screech of trolley cars rounding a curve and biting my nerves.

From Project Gutenberg

To reach it from the outer sections of the district, the tracks used by nine lines of trolley cars must be crossed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disk
• drum
• roller