Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

retaining valve

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.62 in modern English

Syllables
re-tain-ing -valve
IPA
21
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A device that retains some air pressure in a train's air brake cylinders even when the automatic brake valve is set to the fully-released position, used on steep downgrades to allow a degree of continuous braking effort to be maintained without depleting the pressure in the train's brakepipe (which would result in the loss of nearly all braking ability, causing a runaway).

Inflected Forms

retaining valves (plural)

Synonyms

retainer

Questions

What does retaining valve mean?
A device that retains some air pressure in a train's air brake cylinders even when the automatic brake valve is set to the fully-released position, used on steep downgrades to allow a degree of continuous braking effort to be maintained without depleting the pressure in the train's brakepipe (which would result in the loss of nearly all braking ability, causing a runaway).

How to pronounce retaining valve

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “retaining valve”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “retaining valve”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “retaining valve” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.