caravan

[ kar-uh-van ]
See synonyms for caravan on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a group of travelers, as merchants or pilgrims, journeying together for safety in passing through deserts, hostile territory, etc.

  2. any group traveling in or as if in a caravan and using a specific mode of transportation, as pack animals or motor vehicles: a caravan of trucks; a camel caravan.

  1. a large covered vehicle for conveying passengers, goods, a sideshow, etc.; van.

  2. Chiefly British. a house on wheels; trailer.

verb (used with object),car·a·vaned or car·a·vanned, car·a·van·ing or car·a·van·ning.
  1. to carry in or as if in a caravan: Trucks caravaned food and medical supplies to the flood's survivors.

verb (used without object),car·a·vaned or car·a·vanned, car·a·van·ing or car·a·van·ning.
  1. to travel in or as if in a caravan: They caravaned through Egypt.

Origin of caravan

1
1590–1600; earlier carovan<Italian carovana<Persian kārwān

Other words for caravan

Other words from caravan

  • car·a·van·ist, noun

Words Nearby caravan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use caravan in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for caravan

caravan

/ (ˈkærəˌvæn) /


noun
    • a large enclosed vehicle capable of being pulled by a car or lorry and equipped to be lived in: US and Canadian name: trailer

    • (as modifier): a caravan site

  1. (esp in some parts of Asia and Africa) a company of traders or other travellers journeying together, often with a train of camels, through the desert

  1. a group of wagons, pack mules, camels, etc, esp travelling in single file

  2. a large covered vehicle, esp a gaily coloured one used by Romany Gypsies, circuses, etc

verb-vans, -vanning or -vanned
  1. (intr) British to travel or have a holiday in a caravan

Origin of caravan

1
C16: from Italian caravana, from Persian kārwān

Derived forms of caravan

  • caravanning, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012