tram vs trolley

tram

verb
  • To travel by tram. 

  • To weave in this manner. 

  • To transport (material) by tram. 

  • To operate, or conduct the business of, a tramway. 

  • To align a component in mechanical engineering or metalworking, particularly the head of a drill press. 

noun
  • A similar vehicle for carrying materials. 

  • An aerial cable car. 

  • A train with wheels that runs on a road; a trackless train. 

  • A people mover. 

  • A car on a horse railway or tramway (horse trams preceded electric trams). 

  • A silk thread formed of two or more threads twisted together, used especially for the weft, or cross threads, of the best quality of velvets and silk goods. 

  • A passenger vehicle for public use that runs on tracks in the road (called a streetcar or trolley in North America). 

trolley

verb
  • To bring to by trolley. 

  • To travel by trolley (streetcar, trolleybus or light train). 

  • To use a trolley vehicle to go from one place to another. 

noun
  • A streetcar or light train. 

  • A truck from which the load is suspended in some kinds of cranes. 

  • A soapbox car. 

  • A trolley pole; a single-pole device for collecting electrical current from an overhead electrical line, normally for a tram/streetcar or a trolleybus. 

  • A truck which travels along the fixed conductors in an electric railway, and forms a means of connection between them and a railway car. 

  • A light rail, tramway, trolleybus or streetcar system. 

  • A gurney, a stretcher with wheeled legs. 

  • A handcar. 

  • A hand truck. 

  • A cart or shopping cart; a shopping trolley. 

How often have the words tram and trolley occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )