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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

Fire spread from a blazing van on the A31 on 9 August, destroying ancient oak and beech trees, rare heathland and wildlife across an area of more than 100 hectares.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Then I began to worry that the van would run me over, so I crawled out from underneath and banged on the window.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The two pilots of an Amazon cargo plane that overran the runway while landing at Miami International Airport, striking a van and killing five people, have been released from hospital, officials said Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Jacquie Navratil, who always has cat trapping gear in her van, prepares to trap a colony at Angel City Lumber.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

In the morning, she hid when Dr. van Heerden and Petrus drove off.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

These and other events have been “insufficiently examined, inadequately narrated, and rarely remembered,” says Mr. Van de Ven, a professor of modern Chinese history at Cambridge University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

That principle undergirds Mr. Van de Ven’s sweeping “Blood Dawn,” a view of World War II—its causes, battles and consequences—as seen from Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Four people were injured in a possible welding-related explosion at a construction site at 14265 W. Van Nuys Blvd. on Tuesday, authorities said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

It’s unclear if Trump has ever actually watched Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards take on creepy-crawlies in an endless war of intergalactic attrition.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

First, Pendleton and Van Ness agreed that both principals fired their weapons.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

The horse shipped Tuesday from Los Angeles to Newark and then vanned down to Pimlico arriving about midnight, accompanied by Bob Baffert’s top assistant Jimmy Barnes.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024

Mountain Bear, also trained by O’Brien, finished second but after the race was vanned off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 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

Smith, preparing to take his Kayak east, vanned Seabiscuit to Ridgewood, said his good-byes, and left him in Pollard’s care.

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

In fact, vanning enthusiasts include a good many old coots as well as young marrieds, loners and lovers as well as adolescents.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

To have a complete set of tools for all vanning purposes, it will be necessary to get the following:—A vanning shovel 14 inches long and 13 inches wide, weighing not over 2-3/4 pounds.

From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer

Related Words

• camper
• cart
• truck
• wagon