cattle car

American  

noun

1. Railroads. stock car.

2. Slang. a railroad passenger car providing little comfort and few amenities.

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Etymology

Origin of cattle car

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Example Sentences

The Jewish girl and her family were first imprisoned in a ghetto on the outskirts of town and later forced onto a cattle car that took them to the Pechora concentration camp in 1941.

From Washington Times

This time I walked to the railroad bridge, and I saw the cattle cars, the throngs of people, the dogs.

From Literature

After hiding in a barn with his parents and brother for several months at the onset of the war, Ron was sent in a cattle car to Plaszów, a forced labor camp, in March 1943.

From Washington Post

In the documentary, Clary recalled a happy childhood until he and his family was forced from their Paris apartment and put into a crowded cattle car that carried them to concentration camps.

From Seattle Times

They were like cattle cars, all the doors open, with people in there.

From BBC