railroad flat

noun

: an apartment having a series of narrow rooms arranged in line

Examples of railroad flat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Their first place had been a railroad flat, four flights up, three avenues over on Columbus, amid the drug dealers and the prostitutes, the opera singers and the social workers, fine for newlyweds starting out. Literary Hub, 9 July 2025 The apartment’s railroad flat configuration is a plus. Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 31 July 2024 Shelton moved with her five kids to a railroad flat on Blake Street in Berkeley. Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Mar. 2022 Shortly after Howe was born, in 1940, her family moved from Buffalo to a railroad flat near Harvard Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of railroad flat was in 1909

Cite this Entry

“Railroad flat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/railroad%20flat. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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