Conestoga wagon

American  

[kon-uh-stoh-guh, kon-] / ˈkɒn əˈstoʊ gə, ˌkɒn- /

noun

1. a large, heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon, used especially for transporting pioneers and freight across North America during the early westward migration.

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Conestoga wagon British  

/ ˌkɒnɪˈstəʊɡə /

noun

1. a large heavy horse-drawn covered wagon used in the 19th century

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Etymology

Origin of Conestoga wagon

First recorded in 1690–1700; named after Conestoga, Pa., where it was first made

Compare meaning

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

• prairie schooner vs. Conestoga wagon

Example Sentences

The inauguration involves thousands of people, marching bands, horses, bomb-sniffing dogs and a Conestoga wagon, among other things.

From Washington Post • Jan. 18, 2017

Her father was a sign painter; her maternal grandparents had come west to Utah in a Conestoga wagon after the Civil War.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2013

Certainly, there is nothing intimate about this Menagerie, in which the supposedly fragile Wingfield family seems robust enough to set out for the frontier in a Conestoga wagon.

From Time Magazine Archive

I grew a little bored with that because there was a man, who is now a rather popular director . . . and he was always the child in the Conestoga wagon.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Maybe. Anyway, my great-grandfather got this mud from the bottom of the river sixty-four years ago. Next to my Conestoga wagon, it’s the best thing I have.”

From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli