Meaning & use
dinkey
Last updated
A small locomotive used for switching railcars or hauling short trains, especially in logging, mining, or industrial yards.
See it in a sentence
A dinkey hauled ore carts from the mine entrance to the processing plant.
The old logging railroad still displays a restored dinkey engine.
A note on using this word
The name likely comes from "dinky," meaning small, reflecting the engine's compact size compared with mainline locomotives.
Words with a similar meaning
switchershunter
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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