switchback
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: compound
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
rail-transport
railways
road
transport
Etymology: 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.
Compound parts: switch
back
Inflected forms:
form: switchbacks
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: switchbacks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: switchbacking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: switchbacked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: switchbacked
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A railway track on a steep slope in a zigzag formation, in which a train travels in a reverse direction at each switch.
pos: noun
tags: attributive
figuratively
often
examples: "Of course," said Harry, "there will have to be a branch track built, and a ‘switch-back’ up the hill."
Marriage was the switchback, the giant racer, the lobster teas, the guarantee that one would never be alone.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: attributive
figuratively
often
examples: 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 is scarcely disputable) […]
gloss: A flight path consisting of a series of steep ascents and descents, generally flown as a stunt.
pos: noun
tags: attributive
broadly
figuratively
often
gloss: A path or road having a series of steep ascents and descents.
pos: noun
tags: UK
attributive
broadly
figuratively
often
examples: 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.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: Canada
US
attributive
broadly
figuratively
often
examples: Already, we enter some airport bathrooms through a brief switchback of walls, so that we don’t ever grasp a door handle.
gloss: To take a zigzag course or path.
pos: verb
tags: attributive
figuratively
intransitive
often
examples: 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.
Related words: dogleg
Derived words: switchbacky
Translations: