Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use derailment in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun

Derailment means the action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs. Example: “A bus bridge is being put in place for the stations affected by the recent train derailment.”

Examples of derailment by meaning

nounThe action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs.

  • The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652
  • Matters came to a head with the Hatfield accident on October 17 2000, when there was a high-speed derailment as a result of deferred track maintenance.2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69

More sentences with derailment

  • A bus bridge is being put in place for the stations affected by the recent train derailment.From the entry bus bridge
  • We watched the derailment and ensuing train wreck with a mixture of fascination and horror.From the entry ensuing
  • Although the train derailment ended up not being very serious, the emergency services' response served as a dress rehearsal in case of a much worse disaster.From the entry dress rehearsal
  • The near-instantaneous derailment of the rest of the train followed immediately.1981 August 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “Collision and Derailment”, in Railroad Accident Report: Rear-End Collision of Union…. From the entry override
  • "However, incidents such as the derailment at Walton-on-Thames clearly show us that there is no room for complacency."2025 March 5, “Network News: RAIB report: rail left on the track derailed train travelling at 85mph”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 13. From the entry complacency
  • "It travelled on until the bogie fouled a diamond crossover at the north end of the station where derailment became complete."1955, L.T.C. Rolt, Red for Danger: A History of Railway Accidents and Railway Safety Precautions, page 104. From the entry diamond crossover
  • "Given the nature of the bridge and the potential consequences of a derailment, it's hardly surprising that there are orthodox check-rails all the way across the bridge.2020 August 26, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 70, about a bridge across the Irrawaddy in Burma. From the entry check rail
  • The ticket collector then appeared and informed passengers that there had been a derailment at Shilton and that we might expect to be 45min late on arrival.1963 December, “News and Comment: The West Coast main line today”, in Modern Railways, page 368. From the entry ticket collector
  • The evidence of eyewitnesses and the distance travelled after the initial derailment confirmed that the train was travelling at 45 to 50 m.p.h. as it became derailed.1960 September, “Talking of Trains: Accident at Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 522. From the entry eyewitness

Meaning of derailment

  1. noun The action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs.
  2. noun An instance of diverting a conversation or debate from its original topic.
  3. noun An instance of thwarting or frustrating something.

Full definition of derailment

Questions about derailment in a sentence

How do you use derailment in a sentence?
Derailment is used as a noun. For example: “A bus bridge is being put in place for the stations affected by the recent train derailment.”
What is a short sentence with derailment?
“The near-instantaneous derailment of the rest of the train followed immediately.”
What does derailment mean?
Derailment means the action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: derailment (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use derailment in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/derailment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.