char-à-banc

American  

[shar-uh-bang, -bangk, sha-ra-bahn] / ˈʃær əˌbæŋ, -ˌbæŋk, ʃa raˈbɑ̃ /

Or charabanc

noun

British.

• char-à-bancs
  plural

1. a large bus used on sightseeing tours, especially one with open sides and no center aisle.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• char-à-bancs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of char-à-banc

1810–20; back formation from French char-à-bancs literally, car with benches, the -s being taken as plural ending of word as a whole

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

char-à-banc char-à-bancs

The char-à-banc drew up; and as its occupants did not alight, Magdaléna went down and stood beside it, shading her eyes with her hand.

From The Californians by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

The wait was short, and Mr. Geary was still mounting the steps of his char-à-banc when Magdaléna sat forward with a faint exclamation.

From The Californians by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

Great was the excitement when at five o'clock a motor char-à-banc made its appearance.

From The Luckiest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil

This new pattern created a great sensation at Olympia, owing to the ease with which it permits even the amateur driver to convert the present body into a char-à-banc or a tipping-waggon.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-03-31 by Various

It is the Montgomery char-à-banc," she said, "and there are Mrs. Cartright and Tiny and Ila and Rose.

From The Californians by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

The last meet of the season was, as always, at Folkington Green, close enough to Lewes to draw the townsfolk out on bicycles and in char-à-bancs.

From Boy Woodburn A Story of the Sussex Downs by Alfred Ollivant

All morning, carriages, coaches, silent-moving motorcars, char-à-bancs with rowdy parties, moke-carts, people on bicycles and afoot, streamed out of Liverpool.

From Boy Woodburn A Story of the Sussex Downs by Alfred Ollivant

We then mounted the two char-à-bancs which were waiting for us in front of the chateau, with their postilions and four horses; the piqueurs, in their saddles, were all ready to precede us.

From In the Courts of Memory, 1858 1875; from Contemporary Letters by L. de (Lillie de) Hegermann-Lindencrone

It blazed with color from May to November, and there was one of the Rodhaven drivers who on several occasions stopped his char-à-bancs to let the passengers have a long look at it.

From The Devil's Garden by W. B. Maxwell

The bath-houses were built, and the big char-à-bancs rolled down the dusty road to Ravenswood every morning.

From The Californians by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

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