wagon-lit
Americannoun
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wagons-lits
plural
noun
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a sleeping car on a European railway
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a compartment on such a car
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wagon-lit
First recorded in 1880–85; from French, equivalent to wagon “railway coach” (from English ) + lit “bed” (from Latin lectus )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The British have a wagon-lit to ourselves with all possible conveniences: there are several other wagon-lits and a dining saloon," he wrote.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2018
In my first-class wagon-lit compartment, the washbasin was dirty.
From Time Magazine Archive
Soon she would be gone, rattling alone in the wagon-lit without me, and he and I would be together in the dining-room of the hotel, lunching at the same table, planning the future.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
I dragged myself back from Christmas at Manderley to the realities of the wagon-lit.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Every wagon-lit in Berlin had been commandeered by the staff.
From The Day of Wrath A Story of 1914 by Louis Tracy
In a latched compartment of the wagons-lits rode an elderly intriguer, Prince Barbu Stirbey of Rumania, and his elegant daughter, Princess Elise, wife of a British major.
From Time Magazine Archive
The party played cards, ate with their official hosts in the cheery dining car, slept in soft berths as the wagons-lits swayed leisurely westward.
From Time Magazine Archive
During the trip Carol neglected to shave before the ingenious folding washstand provided in the individual compartments of all wagons-lits.
From Time Magazine Archive
Its eleven wagons-lits, three restaurant cars and bar car, all first class, can accommodate 194 passengers; there are two cars for the crew of 30.
From Time Magazine Archive
When she travelled it was in the wagons-lits of trains-de-luxes, and in specially reserved cabins of steamers.
From The Island Mystery by George A. Birmingham
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.
