TRAIN

Definitions

1. 1. That which draws along; especially, persuasion, artifice, or enticement; allurement. [Obs.] "Now to my charms, and to my wily trains." Milton.
2. 2. Hence, something tied to a lure to entice a hawk; also, a trap for an animal; a snare. Halliwell. With cunning trains him to entrap un wares. Spenser.
3. 3. That which is drawn along in the rear of, or after, something; that which is in the hinder part or rear. Specifically : --
4. 4. That part of a gown which trails behind the wearer.
5. 5. The tail of a bird. "The train steers their flights, and turns their bodies, like the rudder of ship." Ray.
6. 6. A number of followers; a body of attendants; a retinue; a suite. The king's daughter with a lovely train. Addison. My train are men of choice and rarest parts. Shak.
7. 7. A consecution or succession of connected things; a series. "A train of happy sentiments." I. Watts. The train of ills our love would draw behind it. Addison. Rivers now Stream and perpetual draw their humid train. Milton. Other truths require a train of ideas placed in order. Locke.
8. 8. Regular method; process; course; order; as, things now in a train for settlement. If things were once in this train, . . . our duty would take root in our nature. Swift.
9. 9. The number of beats of a watch in any certain time.
10. 10. A line of gunpowder laid to lead fire to a charge, mine, or the like.
11. 11. A connected line of cars or carriages on a railroad.
12. 12. A heavy, long sleigh used in Canada for the transportation of merchandise, wood, and the like.
13. 13. A roll train; as, a 12-inch train. 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.