Definition of "switchback"

(rail transport)

1. A railway track on a steep slope in a zigzag formation, in which a train travels in a reverse direction at each switch.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • "Of course," said Harry, "there will have to be a branch track built, and a ‘switch-back’ up the hill."

     1873, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Charles Dudley Warner, chapter XLIX, in The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-day, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, published 1874, page 445

   • Marriage was the switchback, the giant racer, the lobster teas, the guarantee that one would never be alone.

     1934, Graham Greene, chapter 4, in It’s a Battlefield, library edition, London: William Heinemann, published 1959, page 171

2. (British, dated) , such a track built for fun rides at an amusement park; a type of rollercoaster.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The WR faction claims that the Westbury route is better adapted to high speed, to which advocates of the SR route are apt to retort that the effect of modern diesel traction on schedules over the Salisbury–Exeter switchback has yet to be measured (the speed potential between Waterloo and Salisbury is scarcely disputable) […]

     1964 March, “News and comment: Which way to the west?”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, page 147

(by extension)

1. (aviation) A flight path consisting of a series of steep ascents and descents, generally flown as a stunt.  examples

2. (chiefly British) A path or road having a series of steep ascents and descents.  examples

3. (chiefly Canada, US, road transport) A sharp bend in a path or road which causes a traveller to almost reverse their direction of travel, especially one of a series of such bends on an incline; a hairpin bend; also a path or road having such a series of bends.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Already, we enter some airport bathrooms through a brief switchback of walls, so that we don’t ever grasp a door handle.

     2019 April 25, Samanth Subramanian, “Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, archived from the original on 2022-12-21

(intransitive) To take a zigzag course or path.  quotations  examples