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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But his most transformative endeavour came in 1953 with the launch of Band Wagon.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
The Welcome Wagon rolled on to goaltender Joey Daccord, but he’d already hit the ice for practice.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2023
“It’s a two-horse race at this point,” said Gary Volkner, who turned out at the Wagon Wheel to hear Mr. DeSantis introduce himself to a crowd.
From Washington Times • May 31, 2023
The Covered Wagon is slated to become affordable housing next year, something Diaz sees as a boon to Anaheim’s rebuilding efforts, which includes 39 Commons, a shopping center being raised on a former landfill.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2023
On the top of the suitcase was a hastily rolled up brown Wagon Lit uniform.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
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.
