train

be on the gravy train

To be in a state, position, or job where one makes an excessive amount of money without expending much or any effort. I'll be on the gravy train once I get paid from the settlement of the lawsuit! My brother has been on the gravy train ever since he married his wife, whose family owns one of the largest oil companies in the world.

on the gravy train

In a state, position, or job where one makes an excessive amount of money without expending much or any effort. I'll be on the gravy train once I get paid from the settlement of the lawsuit! My brother ended up on the gravy train when he married his wife, whose family owns one of the largest oil companies in the world.

pull a train

vulgar slang Of a woman, to have sex with two or more men sequentially or at the same time. Things were starting to get weird with my boyfriend already, but when he said he wanted me to pull a train with him and some of his friends, I knew the relationship was over.

train wreck

1. A major or total failure, disaster, or catastrophe. This project has become an absolute train wreck. We've wasted so much time and money already, I don't know how we'll make up the losses. Despite a stellar cast, the film turned out to be a real train wreck.

2. A person whose life is a complete mess or is in total disarray. I don't know about my relationship with Kevin. He's a bit of a train wreck, between you and me.

train of thought

One's uninterrupted progression of thinking. When the phone rang, it derailed my train of thought—I totally forget what I was talking about! Please don't interrupt my train of thought when I'm writing.

See also: of, thought, train

lose one's train of thought

Fig. to forget what one was talking or thinking about. Excuse me, I lost my train of thought. What was I talking about? Your question made the speaker lose her train of thought.

ride the gravy train

Fig. to live in ease or luxury. 1/7 had a million dollars, I sure could ride the gravy train. I wouldn't like loafing if I were rich. I don't want to ride the gravy train.

someone's train of thought

Fig. someone's pattern of thinking or sequence of ideas; what one was just thinking about. (See also .) My train of thought is probably not as clear as it should be. I cannot seem to follow your train of thought on this matter. Will you explain it a little more carefully, please?

See also: of, thought, train

train for something

to practice or drill for some task. I am training for the marathon. We all have to train for the upcoming football season.

See also: train

train one's sights on something

and have one's sights trained on something

Fig. to have something as a goal; to direct something or oneself toward a goal. (Alludes to someone using the sights of a gun to aim it. Note plural use of sights.) You should train your sights on getting a promotion in the next year. Lisa has her sights trained on a new car.

train someone in something

to drill and practice someone in a particular skill or body of knowledge. Her mentor trained her in the art of argumentation. I will try to train you in the skills needed to perform this task.

See also: train

train someone on something

to educate someone in the use of something. We trained him on the high diving board, but he isn't ready for competition yet. She trained herself on the computer so she could write a book.

train (someone or an animal) as something

to educate someone or an animal to serve in a particular way. We trained him as a first-rate mechanic. I trained my cocker spaniel as a moderately effective watchdog.

See also: train

train (someone or an animal) for something

to educate someone or an animal for some purpose. His parents trained him for work in the family business. He was trained for factory work.

See also: train

train something on (someone, something, or an animal)

to aim something at someone, something, or an animal. Dave trained the spotlight on Fred, who was just coming out of the building. Train your lens on that bush. There is a deer back there.

train up to something

to practice or drill up to a certain level of proficiency. I don't have enough stamina for the marathon now, but I am training up to it. Alice trained up to the long-distance swim for years.

the gravy train

an activity from which people make a lot of money very quickly and easily A lot of people thought they'd get on the gravy train in the eighties and make some money out of property.

set in train

if you set in train an activity or an event, you make it begin His book set in train the events which eventually led to revolution.

a train of thought

a series of connected thoughts You interrupted my train of thought - Now I can't remember what I was going to say.

See set in train

See also: of, thought, train

gravy train, ride the

Experience excessive ease, success, or profit, especially undeservedly. For example, Now that his brother is paying all his bills, Jim is riding the gravy train. The word gravy has long meant "easy profits," and the term is believed to come from 19th-century railroad slang, although the earliest recorded use dates from the early 1900s. W.C. Handy used it in one of his famous blues songs written in 1914, in which he bemoans falling off the gravy train. Also see easy street.

train of thought

A succession of connected ideas, a path of reasoning, as in You've interrupted my train of thought; now what was I saying? This idiom, which uses train in the sense of "an orderly sequence," was first recorded in 1651, in philosopher Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan.

See also: of, thought, train

train on

To focus or aim something at some goal, mark, or target; direct something at someone or something: The guards trained their rifles on us as we approached the gate.

gravy train

n. a job that brings in a steady supply of easy money or gravy. This kind of job is a real gravy train.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Barbra	BAHR-brə	English
Rex	REKS	English
Karel	KAH-rəl (Dutch), KAH-rel (Czech)	Dutch, Czech, Slovene
Annas	['ænəs]
Mamoun	-	Arabic
Godfrey	['gɔdfri]