How to Use brakeman in a Sentence

brakeman

noun
  • The fireman and brakeman on the moving train leaped from the engine’s cab before the collision.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2018
  • One of the last remaining coasters where a brakeman sits on the train to control speed and G-Forces.
    — Roger Sands, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • So, Adigun joined the United States’ bobsled team as a brakemen.
    — Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE.com, 7 Feb. 2018
  • But the selection of the brakeman for the 2026 Olympic team has hit hurdles.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Tivoli’s most infamous ride is the century-old wooden rollercoaster, which still has a brakeman on board each train.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Apr. 2026
  • McGuffie was chosen as a brakeman, last man in the sled, for pilot Cody Bascue in the two- and four-man race.
    — Alvaro Montano, Houston Chronicle, 17 Feb. 2018
  • And Schroeder later met Regis Schilling, a brakeman on the train who also was a linoleum artist.
    — cleveland, 2 Feb. 2022
  • These days, volunteers say need more people to run the train, serving in such roles as engineer, conductor or brakemen.
    — By Karen Ridder, kansascity.com, 23 May 2017
  • So the difference between the brakemen who make the Olympic team and don't is going to be a couple hundredths of a second.
    — Hanna Howard, Teen Vogue, 18 Feb. 2018
  • Eggleston’s wife, Kelly, also works at the railway as a brakeman, Presby said.
    — Nick Stoico, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Dec. 2022
  • As a brakeman, Michener is responsible for helping to slow the sled down, a process that can take a football field or more to complete.
    — Jay Willis, GQ, 16 Feb. 2018
  • The crew of the 40-car train included an engineer, a conductor, a brakeman and a conductor trainee.
    — Josh Funk, ajc, 18 Apr. 2023
  • On a whim that same year, he was hired on by the Union Pacific railroad, working as a brakeman, and later, an engineer.
    — Jesse Will, Outside Online, 15 Mar. 2022
  • His father was a railroad brakeman who died when Billy was about 10; his mother was a substitute teacher.
    — Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023
  • The four-man sled is designed for balanced weight distribution, with a brakeman responsible for stopping the sled at the finish.
    — Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Meyers Taylor has won silver medals as a driver at the last two Games, as well as a bronze as a brakeman in 2010.
    — USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2022
  • His brakeman for that event, Carsten Vissering, suffered abrasions and was unable to compete Sunday in the four-man.
    — Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 14 Jan. 2026
  • The technology would end the days of brakemen running on top of train cars to individually apply the brakes, a system that often required miles for a train to stop.
    — Thomas Gryta, WSJ, 23 May 2018
  • The other team members are fellow brakeman Ngozi Owumere and driver Seun Adigun.
    — USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Even in bobsled, the relationship between driver and brakeman doesn’t require the same amount of synchronization between partners through every curve.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Artifacts on display will include conductor ticket punches, brakeman and engineer coat buttons, a bell that was used to signal to people that a train was starting to move, and more.
    — Jenna Kunze, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Mar. 2023
  • The family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where Imus joined the Marines before taking jobs as a freight train brakeman and uranium miner.
    — Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2019
  • Humphries was so respected in Canada that she and her brakeman, Heather Moyse, were chosen to carry the flag in the closing ceremony in Sochi.
    — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2022
  • Adigun, 31, soon convinced fellow former runners Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga to join the team as brakemen.
    — Tim Brown, OregonLive.com, 4 Feb. 2018
  • Shortly after returning from Sochi, Elana began recruiting for her new brakeman — the person who pushes the bobsled forward at the beginning of a race and pulls the brake at the end of it.
    — Shannon Barbour, Cosmopolitan, 22 Jan. 2018
  • Some funiculars are driverless, but the Glória Funicular typically has a brakeman on board, who controls the streetcar’s movement.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The train’s crew had been cooperative, and investigators were scheduling interviews with two other train crew members — a conductor and a brakeman, officials said.
    — Matt A.v. Chaban and Emma G. Fitzsimmons, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2016
  • The first victim has been identified as the Gloria Funicular brakeman, André Marques, according to the Sitra (Transport Workers' Union).
    — Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brakeman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: