prairie schooner

American  

noun

1. a type of covered wagon, similar to but smaller than the Conestoga wagon, used by pioneers in crossing the prairies and plains of North America.

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prairie schooner British  

noun

1. a horse-drawn covered wagon similar to but smaller than a Conestoga wagon, used in the 19th century to cross the prairies of North America

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Etymology

Origin of prairie schooner

First recorded in 1835–45

Compare meaning

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

• prairie schooner vs. Conestoga wagon

Example Sentences

The most common wagon was the prairie schooner.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

There it will begin tests that will culminate in flights that could do for space colonization what the prairie schooner and the railroads did for the settling of America.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sirs: The "prairie schooner" was usually referred to as the "Conestoga" wagon.

From Time Magazine Archive

For about $800, a family of four rides a prairie schooner driven by a hired hand, with stops along the trail to investigate the Smoky Hill River or the surrounding hills.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sometimes they rode northward to the main trail in hope of sighting some prairie schooner coming hitherward, but not once that season did the trail hold a human being for them.

From Winning the Wilderness by Marchand, J. N.