Pullman

See also: pullman

English

WOTD – 19 October 2016

Etymology

The Virginia City, a Pullman coach manufactured in 1928 and now operated by Private Rail Cars for charter or hire

Ellipsis of Pullman car, after the Pullman Palace Car Company, named after American engineer and industrialist George Pullman (1831–1897).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpʊlmən/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Pull‧man

Noun

Pullman (plural Pullmans)

1. (rail transport, US) A railroad passenger car; especially one of the luxurious ones named after the eponymous Pullman Palace Car Company.

   Synonym: Pullman car

   • 1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324:

     It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.

2. A train made up of Pullman coaches.

Proper noun

Pullman

1. A surname, notably that of George Pullman.
2. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A neighbourhood of Richmond, Contra Costa County, California, named after the Pullman Company.
   2. A community area and neighbourhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, formerly a company town founded by George Pullman.
   3. An unincorporated community in Lee Township, Allegan County, Michigan.
   4. A neighbourhood of Amarillo, Potter County, Texas.
   5. A city in Whitman County, Washington.
   6. A town in Ritchie County, West Virginia.

Derived terms

• Pullman pan

 

Further reading

• Pullman (car or coach) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “Pullman”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.