hansom
Americannoun
-
a low-hung, two-wheeled, covered vehicle drawn by one horse, for two passengers, with the driver being mounted on an elevated seat behind and the reins running over the roof.
-
any similar horse-drawn vehicle.
noun
Etymology
Origin of hansom
1850–55; named after J. A. Hansom (1803–82), English architect who designed it
Explanation
A hansom is an old-fashioned carriage that's pulled by a horse. There are still some cities where you can find a hansom to ride in for fun, but it's no longer the fastest way to get where you're going. In the 1830s, the hansom, also called a hansom cab, was the latest way to get get around in busy cities. It was smaller than conventional horse-drawn carriages, which had four wheels and at least two horses. With only two wheels and a low center of gravity, hansoms were safe, light and agile, and could be pulled by just one horse. A man named Joseph Hansom patented what he dubbed the "Hansom safety cab" in 1834.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Maybe not: A hansom cab struggles through the snowdrifts to deliver the recently widowed Lady Glendenning to 221B Baker Street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
That sort of casual outsourcing, though, doesn’t seem very different from taking a hansom cab in 19th-century London or buying already-baked bread from a pistor in ancient Rome.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
Donald Pepper formed a special connection with a retired Philadelphia hansom cab horse.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2022
Being so late, he probably hailed a hansom cab to take him to his workshop.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2015
Pedaling down Maxwell Street, I took care to stay away from the hansom cabs and wagons that rushed through the road as though they were racing to see who could mow down the most pedestrians.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
