cowcatcher
cowcatcher noun: a plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.
Noun
cowcatcher (plural cowcatchers)
- A plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.
- With its long tapered cowcatcher, massive headlamp and enormous diamond smokestack behind, wagon-top boiler, high running-plate above the driving-wheels reached from a front door in the square side-window cab, cylinders with slide valves mounted on top, and double bogie tender, General in its...1942 February, “Notes and News: An Historic American Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 56
- The locomotive was black, an ungainly contraption led by the triangular snout of the cowcatcher, though there would be few animals where this engine was headed.2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 83
- Synonyms:
- pilot
- An advertisement at the start of a program.
- Hitchhiker and cowcatcher plugs will be considered.1945, Broadcasting, volume 29, page 55
- National advertisers have probably been major contributors to this practice through the use of so-called hitchhike and cowcatcher announcements.1945, Charles Harold Sandage, Radio Advertising for Retailers, page 185
cowcatcher meaning in Arabic and Indonesian
cowcatcher in Arabic
- plough-like device on the front of a train locomotive
- كانسة عقبات
cowcatcher in Indonesian
- plough-like device on the front of a train locomotive
- penghalau rintangan
Examples of cowcatcher in a sentence
- But because it flanked public roads and was unfenced (to save costs), it was deemed a tramway and its locomotives had to be fitted with a cowcatcher.2023 January 11, Richard Foster, “British Rail's weirdest railways...: Wisbech & Upwell Tramway”, in RAIL, number 974, page 46:
- Keen and Easy Aces from their early evening periods on CBS, which also killed my cowcatchers and hitchhikes.2009, George Ansbro, I Have a Lady in the Balcony, page 138:
Synonyms of cowcatcher
Forms of cowcatcher
| plural | cowcatchers |
|---|---|
| alternative form | cow catcher |
Origin of cowcatcher
From cow + catcher.
Questions about cowcatcher
- What does cowcatcher mean?
- Cowcatcher means a plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.
- What is cowcatcher in Arabic?
- Cowcatcher in Arabic is كانسة عقبات. See Cowcatcher meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use cowcatcher in a sentence?
- But because it flanked public roads and was unfenced (to save costs), it was deemed a tramway and its locomotives had to be fitted with a cowcatcher.
- What part of speech is cowcatcher?
- Cowcatcher is a noun.
- What is the plural of cowcatcher?
- The plural of cowcatcher is cowcatchers.
Words near cowcatcher in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cowcatcher (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “cowcatcher.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cowcatcher. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.