DCHP-1 Online

roadmaster

• 1 n. an elected municipal official responsible for public roads, paths, bridges, etc.

  See also: path master  road commissioner  road inspector  

  • 1825  Bulls and Oxen to run at large--Fences 5 feet high. Road Masters to be Judges of Fences.
  • 1865  We had occasion to notice, on a recent visit to the lower part of the Settlement, two broken bridges, and upon informing the road-master, we received an explanation of the cause in the one case, and a promise of immediate attention to the other.
  • 1924  He is not over-considerate, is the roadmaster; he puts you to no end of trouble for a trifle of a drift; and there are pitch-holes opposite his own place, too.

• 2 † n. a person in charge of the maintenance of the track in a division on a railway.

  • 1883  Last autum Supt. Egan, instructed all road-masters to have section men all along the line construct snow fences running parallel with the track. . . .
  • 1966  The roadmaster came down on his track speeder and gave us a fatherly talking to.