prairie schooner

American  

noun

1. a type of covered wagon, similar to but smaller than the Conestoga wagon, used by pioneers in crossing the prairies and plains of North America.

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prairie schooner British  

noun

1. a horse-drawn covered wagon similar to but smaller than a Conestoga wagon, used in the 19th century to cross the prairies of North America

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Etymology

Origin of prairie schooner

First recorded in 1835–45

Compare meaning

How does prairie-schooner compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• prairie schooner vs. Conestoga wagon

Example Sentences

The most common wagon was the prairie schooner.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

There it will begin tests that will culminate in flights that could do for space colonization what the prairie schooner and the railroads did for the settling of America.

From Time Magazine Archive

When it arrived, it turned out to be a steam engine instead of a prairie schooner and not such an irresistable choo-choo at that.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first man to do things in the lazy Santa Fe style was a Topeka lawyer named Cyrus Holliday, who dreamed of running a railroad into the great Southwest to replace the prairie schooner.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Say, moon-face, didn't you ever hear tell of a prairie schooner!"

From The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze by Patchin, Frank Gee