broad gauge
1 Americannoun
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gauge15
adjective
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Railroads. of or relating to equipment designed for a railroad having track of a broad gauge.
broad-gauge rolling stock.
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of wide scope, application, or experience.
broad-gauge efforts to improve the health of our citizens.
noun
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a railway track with a greater distance between the lines than the standard gauge of 56 1/ 2 inches (about 1.44 metres) used now by most mainline railway systems
adjective
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of, relating to, or denoting a railway having this track
Etymology
Origin of broad gauge1
First recorded in 1835–45
Origin of broad-gauge2
1835–45, for an earlier sense
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The business outlook survey index - a broad gauge of how firms feel about their prospects - hit -3.51, the lowest since the -6.16 seen in the second quarter of 2020.
From Reuters • Oct. 16, 2023
The first logistical nightmare is shifting wagons or their loads from broad gauge tracks - 1,524mm wide, in use in the former Soviet Union - to narrower European gauge - 1,432mm wide.
From BBC • Jul. 21, 2022
MSCI’s broad gauge of regional markets outside Japan fell more than 2% to its lowest level since November 2020.
From The Guardian • Jan. 27, 2022
Its purchasing managers’ index - a broad gauge of business activity - rose to 54.4 in June from 53.6 the previous month.
From Washington Times • Jul. 3, 2015
"You should see the Bath express come along the broad gauge at the rate of sixty miles an hour."
From Spring Days by Moore, George (George Augustus)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.