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• van
  van

  noun

  the foremost or front division of an army, a fleet, or any group leading an advance or in position to lead an advance.
• Van
  Van

  noun

  Lake, a salt lake in E Turkey. 1,454 sq. mi. (3,766 sq. km).

van

¹ American  

[van] / væn /

noun

1. the foremost or front division of an army, a fleet, or any group leading an advance or in position to lead an advance.

2. those who are in the forefront of a movement or the like.

3. the forefront in any movement, course of progress, or the like.

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van ² American  

[van] / væn /

noun

1. a covered vehicle, usually a large truck or trailer, used for moving furniture, goods, animals, etc.

2. a smaller boxlike vehicle that resembles a panel truck, often has double doors both at the rear and along the curb side, and that can be used as a truck, fitted with rows of seats, or equipped with living quarters for traveling and camping.

3. British.

   1. a railway baggage car.

   2. a covered, boxlike railway car, as one used to carry freight.

   3. a small, horse-drawn wagon or a small truck, as one used by tradespeople to carry light goods.

4. Also called van conversion.  a conventional van whose cargo area has been equipped with living facilities, extra windows, and often increased headroom.

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verb (used with object)

vanned, vanning

1. to transport or carry (freight, passengers, etc.) in a van.

verb (used without object)

vanned, vanning

1. to travel in a van.

van ³ American  

[van, vahn] / væn, vɑn /

Or Van

preposition

1. from; of (used in Dutch personal names, originally to indicate place of origin).

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van ⁴ American  

[van] / væn /

noun

Archaic.

1. a bird's wing or tail, especially when fanned out, as in flight or as part of a mating display.

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Van ⁵ American  

[van, vahn] / væn, vɑn /

noun

1. Lake, a salt lake in E Turkey. 1,454 sq. mi. (3,766 sq. km).

2. a town on this lake.

3. a male given name.

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van ¹ British  

/ væn /

noun

1. short for caravan

2. a covered motor vehicle for transporting goods, etc, by road

3. a closed railway wagon in which the guard travels, for transporting goods, mail, etc

4. See delivery van

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Van ² British  

/ vɑːn /

noun

1. a city in E Turkey, on Lake Van. Pop: 377 000 (2005 est)

2. a salt lake in E Turkey, at an altitude of 1650 m (5400 ft): fed by melting snow and glaciers. Area: 3737 sq km (1433 sq miles)

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van ³ British  

/ væn /

noun

1. any device for winnowing corn

2. an archaic or poetic word for wing

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van ⁴ British  

/ væn /

noun

1. short for vanguard

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van ⁵ British  

/ væn /

noun

1. Usual US and Canadian word: ad.  short for advantage

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Etymology

Origin of van¹

First recorded in 1600–10; short for vanguard

Origin of van²

First recorded in 1820–30; short for caravan

Origin of van³

From Dutch

Origin of van⁴

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, variant of fan ¹

Explanation

A van is a roomy vehicle with a boxy shape that's useful for transporting extra people or extra stuff. If you're moving some furniture across town, your mom's van will come in handy. There are many kinds of vans, from commercial vans that deliver appliances to airport vans that transport hotel guests and their luggage to the small vans parked in many suburban driveways. A less common meaning of van is "forefront," and this meaning is usually used when talking about military movement: "The general was at the van of the troops as they surged forward." The vehicle definition comes from caravan, "large covered carriage used for conveying passengers."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

van Van vanned vanning

For the next couple of weeks, she’d couch surf until ultimately sleeping in her van, waking up early to wait tables at an oyster bar on Sunset Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

"Farage's plan to turn this by-election into a serious political battle failed," Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle "makes Farage look rather silly".

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

During an interview with MarketWatch, Robotti and Theo van der Meer, a senior investment associate with the firm, discussed three stocks they favor among companies producing, selling or servicing hard assets.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

A van served ice creams and a pop-up-shop in an oversize metal crate was selling beers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Dr. van Heerden must have taken it to pay for my supplies, she decided.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Piet Buyse, the former longtime mayor of Dendermonde, told Belgian media the gold most likely belonged to the Van Assche family, an old, wealthy Flemish family.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

The gold was stashed in a bag under the stone cellar surface below the 1890s villa built for the brewery’s onetime owner, Theophilus Van Assche, said local police officer Katrijn Braem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

To test the importance of warming speed, Van Westen and his colleagues ran two versions of a climate model.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

Van der Meer tied the current housing-market doldrums to the long period of underinvestment in the offshore oil industry.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

I also remember what I’ve written in my journal for Mr. Van Deusen.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

Shipping isn’t as big of a problem on the East Coast because so many tracks are clustered in the northeast and horses can be vanned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2023

Jockey Jesus Castanon pulled her up passing the 3/16th pole and she was vanned off, Equibase race chart notes stated.

From Washington Times ● May 28, 2023

Spun Intended was pulled up in front of the grandstand by jockey Mike Smith and vanned off.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 8, 2023

He was pulled up near the clubhouse turn after the race and was vanned off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2020

Trouble dogged him from the moment he was vanned into Santa Anita.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

The proposal would also help pay for the cost of vanning horses and relocation expenses for horsemen, including grooms and trainers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024

The paradoxical realities of vanning suggest another possibility.

From Time Magazine Archive

News of ever fresh extravagances circulates in 25 or so magazines devoted to vanning.

From Time Magazine Archive

The short answer is that vanning has become an American craze.

From Time Magazine Archive

The vanning spade and shallow washing dish are the prototypes of this kind of ore-dressing machinery.

From Twentieth Century Inventions A Forecast by George Sutherland

Related Words

• camper
• cart
• truck
• wagon