bow trolley

bow trolley [boh] Word Origin noun Railroads.

1. See under trolley(def 4).

Origin of bow trolley First recorded in 1900–05 trolley or trol·ly [trol-ee] noun, plural trol·leys.

1. trolley car.
2. a pulley or truck traveling on an overhead track and serving to support and move a suspended object.
3. a grooved metallic wheel or pulley carried on the end of a pole (trolley pole) by an electric car or locomotive, and held in contact with an overhead conductor, usually a suspended wire (trolley wire), from which it collects the current for the propulsion of the car or locomotive.
4. any of various devices for collecting current for such a purpose, as a pantograph, or a bowlike structure (bow trolley) sliding along an overhead wire, or a device (underground trolley) for taking current from the underground wire or conductor used by some electric railways.
5. a small truck or car operated on a track, as in a mine or factory.
6. a serving cart, as one used to serve desserts.
7. Chiefly British. any of various low carts or vehicles, as a railway handcar or costermonger’s cart.

verb (used with or without object), trol·leyed, trol·ley·ing.

8. to convey or go by trolley.

Idioms

9. off one’s trolley, Slang.
   1. in a confused mental state.
   2. insane: He’s been off his trolley for years, but his family refuses to have him committed.

Origin of trolley First recorded in 1815–25; orig. dial.; apparently akin to troll1 British Dictionary definitions for bow trolley trolley noun

1. British a small table on casters used for conveying food, drink, etc
2. British a wheeled cart or stand pushed by hand and used for moving heavy items, such as shopping in a supermarket or luggage at a railway station
3. British (in a hospital) a bed mounted on casters and used for moving patients who are unconscious, immobilized, etc
4. British See trolleybus
5. US and Canadian See trolley car
6. a device that collects the current from an overhead wire (trolley wire), third rail, etc, to drive the motor of an electric vehicle
7. a pulley or truck that travels along an overhead wire in order to support a suspended load
8. mainly British a low truck running on rails, used in factories, mines, etc, and on railways
9. a truck, cage, or basket suspended from an overhead track or cable for carrying loads in a mine, quarry, etc
10. off one’s trolley slang
    1. mentally confused or disorganized
    2. insane

verb

11. (tr) to transport (a person or object) on a trolley

See also trolleys Word Origin for trolley C19: probably from troll 1 Word Origin and History for bow trolley trolley n.

1823, in Suffolk dialect, “a cart,” especially one with wheels flanged for running on a track (1858), probably from troll (v.) in the sense of “to roll.” Sense transferred to “pulley to convey current to a streetcar motor” (1890), then “streetcar drawing power by a trolley” (1891).

Idioms and Phrases with bow trolley trolley

see off one’s head (trolley).