covered wagon

American  

noun

1. a large wagon with a high, bonnetlike canvas top, especially such a wagon used by pioneers to transport themselves and their possessions across the North American plains during the westward migrations in the 19th century.

2. British Railroads. a boxcar.

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covered wagon British  

noun

1. a large wagon with an arched canvas top, used formerly for prairie travel

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covered wagon Cultural  

1. A typical conveyance for settlers moving west with their belongings. It was drawn by horses or oxen and equipped with a canvas cover, often supported by hoops, to keep off rain.

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Etymology

Origin of covered wagon

An Americanism dating back to 1735–45

Example Sentences

On July 14, it shared a painting depicting a young 19th-century couple in a covered wagon, craning over an infant, the plains and mountains extending into the distance behind them.

From Slate • Aug. 14, 2025

Perhaps I was the chosen one who would carry these tales into a new generation, passing down stories of America’s wine-sloshed aunts like I was spinning a yarn in the back of a covered wagon.

From Salon • Jan. 10, 2025

I doubted Dryden would last very long in a covered wagon out on the prairie.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2024

Born in New York, Jacobs was raised in Michigan, where he studied law before crossing the country by ox-drawn covered wagon to Oregon Territory.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 17, 2022

The covered wagon was the hearse for anybody who needed one in that part of Banks County.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns