wagon

American  

[wag-uhn] / ˈwæg ən /

noun

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   lorry, dray, truck, wain, van, cart

2. Informal. station wagon.

3. a police van for transporting prisoners; patrol wagon.

   The fight broke up before the wagon arrived.

4. (initial capital letter) Charles's Wain.

5. British. a railway freight car or flatcar.

6. a baby carriage.

7. Archaic. a chariot.

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verb (used with object)

1. to transport or convey by wagon.

verb (used without object)

1. Also to proceed or haul goods by wagon.

   It was strenuous to wagon up the hill.

idioms

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. off the / one's wagon,

   1. 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.

   2. returning to an unhealthy or bad habit.

      I’m usually on a diet, but sometimes I go off my wagon.

5. circle the wagons. circle.

wagon ¹ British  

/ ˈwæɡən /

noun

1. 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

2. a railway freight truck, esp an open one

3. a child's four-wheeled cart

4. a police van for transporting prisoners and those arrested

5. See station wagon

6. an obsolete word for chariot

7. informal no longer abstaining from alcoholic drinks

8. informal abstaining from alcoholic drinks

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verb

1. (tr) to transport by wagon

Wagon ² British  

/ ˈwæɡən /

noun

1. another name for the Plough

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wagon More Idioms  

1. see fix someone's wagon; hitch one's wagon; on the bandwagon; on the wagon.

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Other Word Forms

• wagonless adjective

Etymology

Origin of wagon

First recorded in 1505–15; from Dutch wagen; cognate with Old English wægn “farm wagon”; wain

Example Sentences

As I was pushed into the station wagon, there were boxes everywhere.

From Los Angeles Times

Then as I watched, a kind of odd, old farm wagon—old fashioned and out of place in the middle of a city—came lumbering across the square pulled by four enormous black horses.

From Literature

We hitched up Siren and Stentor to the spring wagon and off we went along the boiling roads.

From Literature

A clatter of hooves and wagon wheels drawing up to the side of the house snapped her attention back to my laundry, and she finished transferring it into her basket.

From Literature

Those wagons, as well as North Korean domestic carriages, will then be attached to a new train heading to Pyongyang, he added.

From Barron's

Related Words

• car
• caravan
• carriage
• cart
• chariot
• lorry
• van