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.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• char-à-bancs
  plural

---

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

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

char-à-banc char-à-bancs

When the char-à-banc came to the door the next morning, Hilary busied herself looking after the storage of cloaks, cushions, camp-stools, and various little etceteras which would add to the comfort of the excursion.

From Sisters Three by Stanley Lloyd

Here we landed in a pilot-boat, with some Danish gentlemen, who were very civil to us, and by their aid we engaged a char-à-banc, and drove to Copenhagen the same evening.

From Fred Markham in Russia The Boy Travellers in the Land of the Czar by R. T. Landells

But I find that my good Jacques has taken on the char-à-banc a league or two beyond Noireau, and I am compelled to await his return.

From The Doctor's Dilemma by Hesba Stretton

At that identical moment little Hugh Gartley, seeing some attraction on the opposite pavement, threw discipline to the winds and dashed suddenly across the road, in front of the very wheels of the passing char-à-banc.

From The Jolliest Term on Record A Story of School Life by Angela Brazil

But there, comfortably and safely seated in the char-à-banc, was his bride—the sympathetic companion and sharer in his work of after years.

From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Andrew Gray

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

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

At half-past six we reached Cairo, and were conveyed in a large char-à-bancs to what was formerly Shepherd's Hotel, now partly rebuilt and much altered for the better.

From A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' Our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months by Annie Brassey

"Of course, I've only been in taxis and char-à-bancs and things, but I've always wanted to go in a real motor-car—a private one, I mean!"

From The Making of a Soul by Kathlyn Rhodes

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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---