any of various kinds of four-wheeled vehicles designed to be pulled or having its own motor and ranging from a child's toy to a commercial vehicle for the transport of heavy loads, delivery, etc.
Informal. station wagon.
a police van for transporting prisoners; patrol wagon.
The fight broke up before the wagon arrived.
(initial capital letter) Charles's Wain.
British. a railway freight car or flatcar.
Archaic. a chariot.
hitch one's wagon to a star, to have a high ambition, ideal, or purpose.
It is better to hitch one's wagon to a star than to wander aimlessly through life.
fix someone's wagon, to get even with or punish someone.
He'd better mind his own business or I'll really fix his wagon.
on the wagon, abstaining from a current or former bad habit, as smoking, overeating, excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages, or taking drugs: Also on the water wagon; on the water cart.
She's been on the wagon for a month, now, so please don't offer her a drink.
off the / one's wagon,
again drinking alcoholic beverages after a period of abstinence.
His failure to show up at work is one more sign that he’s fallen off the wagon again.
returning to an unhealthy or bad habit.
I’m usually on a diet, but sometimes I go off my wagon.
circle the wagons. circle.
any of various types of wheeled vehicles, ranging from carts to lorries, esp a vehicle with four wheels drawn by a horse, tractor, etc, and used for carrying crops, heavy loads, etc
a railway freight truck, esp an open one
a child's four-wheeled cart
a police van for transporting prisoners and those arrested
See station wagon
an obsolete word for chariot
informal no longer abstaining from alcoholic drinks
informal abstaining from alcoholic drinks
First recorded in 1505–15; from Dutch wagen; cognate with Old English wægn “farm wagon”; see wain
Anything can be a wagon, so long as it has wheels and can be pulled. Wagons are used for transporting goods, like grains from a farm, or your little sister who wants another ride around the block. The origin of wagon is the German weg, meaning “move, carry.” You’ll see horse-drawn wagons carrying vegetables, or a wagon pulled by a tractor moving bales of hay into a barn. A paddywagon is slang for a police van that brings suspected criminals to the station. If you “fall off the wagon” that means you started drinking alcohol again after being sober for a while. And when you “hitch your wagon to a star,” you pursue a major goal.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She packed us into the station wagon and drove us to the Village.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
It only survived after a computer with the last known copy of the movie was strapped into the back seat of a Volvo station wagon and chauffeured to Pixar Animation Studios.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
In February 2024, he sued OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman, saying the firm he helped found had reneged on its non-profit, open source origins by hitching its wagon to Microsoft.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Then Emma Cannon embraces the holiday by pulling her son and twin daughters behind her in a wagon.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Father reaches beneath the wagon seat where he hides his rifle and money.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The staff of “60 Minutes” didn’t exactly roll out the Welcome Wagon for new executive producer Nick Bilton on Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Between 1953 and 1968, Band Wagon helped build a thriving live music circuit, producing homegrown artistes such as Marie Sampson and Shirley Churcher, who would later find success in the West.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
Kris’ sister Andrea Edwards wrote on a GoFundMe page that Edwards was walking back to her parked car when she was struck by a black Mercedes G Wagon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025
The Welcome Wagon rolled on to goaltender Joey Daccord, but he’d already hit the ice for practice.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
The man would have passed through Mrs. Hubbard’s compartment just before one o’clock—and the Wagon Lit uniform would have been found cast off in one of the toilets.”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Through drought and earthquake, and from horse-drawn wagons to driverless cars, they have delivered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
AFP journalists saw long lines of police wagons, horse patrols, barbed wire around government buildings, and large numbers of plainclothes officers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
And so the tents began to come down, and the suitcases, shopping carts, wagons, bicycles, etc., began to fill up.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
“Popcorn wagons became a new business that could support a family,” Cretors says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
There are plenty of kids around, pushing shopping carts and wheelbarrows, and pulling wagons piled high with chain.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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.
