brake-van

[ breyk-van ]

nounBritish.
  1. the caboose of a railway train.

Origin of brake-van

1
First recorded in 1880–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use brake-van in a sentence

  • It is composed of ten trucks and vans, and has besides a guard's brake-van fitted with a screw-down brake of the usual sort.

  • He swung a swag on to the platform, shouldered it, pulled out a billy and water-bag, and then went to a dog-box in the brake van.

    While the Billy Boils | Henry Lawson
  • He shall take care that the breakdown tackle is always kept ready on the brake van in case of emergency.

    Minimum Gauge Railways | Arthur Heywood
  • He shall take care to run no train without a brake-van at the rear end, and a brakesman in attendance.

    Minimum Gauge Railways | Arthur Heywood
  • "De Aar," and the Africander guard flung himself out of his brake-van.

    On the Heels of De Wet | The Intelligence Officer

British Dictionary definitions for brake van

brake van

noun
  1. railways, British the coach or vehicle from which the guard applies the brakes; guard's van

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012