hansom

American  

[han-suhm] / ˈhæn səm /

noun

1. 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.

2. any similar horse-drawn vehicle.

---

hansom British  

/ ˈhænsəm /

noun

1. Also called: hansom cab.  (sometimes capital) a two-wheeled one-horse carriage with a fixed hood. The driver sits on a high outside seat at the rear

---

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

See Examples For:

hansom

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

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

She didn’t entirely trust this, despite the presence of the hansom carriages and the Time Warner Center—she insisted that south and north were east and west.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 17, 2014

Mr. Tomony who owned the pawnshop came home in a hansom cab from his spendthrift evening in New York.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith