cable car
Noun: A cable car is a vehicle, typically used to transport passengers or cargo, that is pulled by a moving cable. It is a common feature of cable railways or aerial tramways, where the vehicle travels along fixed rails or is suspended from an overhead cable.
The term "cable car" specifically refers to the vehicle itself. It is used to describe a mode of transport often found in mountainous or steep urban areas. * They rode the cable car to the summit for a better view. * The city's famous cable cars are a popular tourist attraction. * The cable car stopped momentarily as another car passed on the track.
- By cable car: This phrase is used to indicate the mode of transport.
- We ascended by cable car.
- Cable car system/network: Refers to the entire infrastructure, including tracks, cables, stations, and vehicles.
- The city is expanding its cable car network to reduce traffic.
- Aerial tramway: A type of cable car where the cabin is suspended from a cable, often used for skiing or mountain transit. (This is a related but more specific term).
- Funicular (railway): A railway on a steep slope where two connected cars counterbalance each other, often confused with but technically distinct from a cable car.
- Gondola: In transit contexts, a cabin suspended from a cable, often part of a continuously circulating system.
- Tram (in specific contexts, particularly for street-running cable cars)
- Telecabine (less common in English)
- Cable car line: The specific route or service operated by cable cars.
- The Powell-Hyde cable car line is the most scenic.
- Cable car ride: The experience or journey taken in a cable car.
- The cable car ride offered breathtaking vistas.
The meaning of "cable car" can have regional specificity: 1. In cities like San Francisco, it primarily refers to a street-running passenger car pulled by an underground cable, serving as public transit. 2. In mountainous or ski regions, it more commonly refers to an aerial passenger cabin suspended from a cable, used to traverse valleys or ascend slopes.
- a conveyance for passengers or freight on a cable railway
- they took a cable car to the top of the mountain