switchback
Syllables: switch·back/ˈswɪt͡ʃbæk/US/ˈswɪt͡ʃˌbæk/
switchback noun: a railway track on a steep slope in a zigzag formation, in which a train travels in a reverse direction at each switch.
Noun
switchback (plural switchbacks)
- A railway track on a steep slope in a zigzag formation, in which a train travels in a reverse direction at each switch.
- "Of course," said Harry, "there will have to be a branch track built, and a ‘switch-back’ up the hill."1873, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Charles Dudley Warner, chapter XLIX, in The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-day, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, published 1874, →OCLC...
- Marriage was the switchback, the giant racer, the lobster teas, the guarantee that one would never be alone.1934, Graham Greene, chapter 4, in It’s a Battlefield, library edition, London: William Heinemann, published 1959, →OCLC, page 171
- A railway track on which there are steep ascents and descents, a train moving partially or fully by the force of gravity using the momentum generated when descending to travel up an ascending part of the track; especially (UK, dated), such a track built for fun rides at an amusement park; a type of rollercoaster.
- The WR faction claims that the Westbury route is better adapted to high speed, to which advocates of the SR route are apt to retort that the effect of modern diesel traction on schedules over the Salisbury–Exeter switchback has yet to be measured (the speed potential between Waterloo and Salisbury...1964 March, “News and comment: Which way to the west?”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, page 147
- A flight path consisting of a series of steep ascents and descents, generally flown as a stunt.
- A path or road having a series of steep ascents and descents.
- The switchback road to Diabaig - pronounced 'Jer-vague' - passes through some of the most exhilarating scenery in Scotland. […] With a final swoop, the road plummets down into Diabaig, where cottages are dotted across the slopes of a rocky semi-circle.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 151
- A sharp bend in a path or road which causes a traveller to almost reverse their direction of travel, especially one of a series of such bends on an incline; a hairpin bend; also a path or road having such a series of bends.
- Already, we enter some airport bathrooms through a brief switchback of walls, so that we don’t ever grasp a door handle.2019 April 25, Samanth Subramanian, “Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News &...
Verb
switchback (third-person singular simple present switchbacks, present participle switchbacking, simple past and past participle switchbacked)
- To take a zigzag course or path.
- I climbed 6,683-foot Velka Svistovka, not the highest mountain in the Tatras but arguably the one with the best view. I started from Zelene pleso chata (pleso means "lake" and chata means "hut" in Slovak), and right after turning the first corner I started switchbacking.2015 June 25, John Henderson, “A secret range of stunning mountains? Hikers, meet Slovakia’s High Tatras”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- zigzag
Synonyms of switchback
Forms of switchback
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | switchbacks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | switchbacks |
| present participle | switchbacking |
| past participle | switchbacked |
| past | switchbacked |
Origin of switchback
The noun is derived from switch (“to turn (a train) from one railway track to another using a switch”, verb) + back (“so as to reverse direction and return”, adverb). The verb is derived from the noun.
Words formed from switchback
Questions about switchback
- What does switchback mean?
- Switchback means a railway track on a steep slope in a zigzag formation, in which a train travels in a reverse direction at each switch.
- What part of speech is switchback?
- Switchback can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce switchback?
- Switchback is pronounced /ˈswɪt͡ʃbæk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of switchback?
- The plural of switchback is switchbacks.
Words near switchback in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: switchback (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-switchback.wav.
Cite this entry: “switchback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/switchback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.