wagon

[ wag-uhn ]
See synonyms for wagon on Thesaurus.com
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.

  2. Informal. station wagon.

  1. a police van for transporting prisoners; patrol wagon: The fight broke up before the wagon arrived.

  2. (initial capital letter)Astronomy. Charles's Wain.

  3. British. a railway freight car or flatcar.

  4. Archaic. a chariot.

verb (used with object)
  1. to transport or convey by wagon.

verb (used without object)
  1. Also especially British, waggon . to proceed or haul goods by wagon: It was strenuous to wagon up the hill.

Idioms about wagon

  1. circle the wagons. circle (def. 23).

  2. fix someone's wagon, Slang. to get even with or punish someone: He'd better mind his own business or I'll really fix his wagon.

  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. off the / one's wagon, Slang.

    • 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.

  3. on the wagon, Slang. abstaining from a current or former bad habit, as smoking, overeating, excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages, or taking drugs: She's been on the wagon for a month, now, so please don't offer her a drink.: Also on the water wagon; British, on the water cart.

Origin of wagon

1
First recorded in 1505–15; from Dutch wagen; cognate with Old English wægn “farm wagon”; see wain

Other words for wagon

Other words from wagon

  • wag·on·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wagon in a sentence

  • My brother, Michael Deets, about four years older than myself, was among the first that wagoned on the pike.

    The Old Pike | Thomas B. Searight
  • The hogsheads used for rolling in this manner were constructed much more substantially than those wagoned or transported by boat.

  • So, all the ore taken out had to be wagoned, from the mine to the mill at Wickenburg, at a cost of ten dollars per ton.

    Across America | James F. Rusling
  • Some valuable stores were also captured, and wagoned off to Hartsville.

British Dictionary definitions for wagon (1 of 2)

wagon

waggon

/ (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. British a railway freight truck, esp an open one

  1. US and Canadian a child's four-wheeled cart

  2. US and Canadian a police van for transporting prisoners and those arrested

  3. mainly US and Canadian See station wagon

  4. an obsolete word for chariot

  5. off the wagon informal no longer abstaining from alcoholic drinks

  6. on the wagon informal abstaining from alcoholic drinks

verb
  1. (tr) to transport by wagon

Origin of wagon

1
C16: from Dutch wagen wain

Derived forms of wagon

  • wagonless or waggonless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Wagon (2 of 2)

Wagon

Waggon

/ (ˈwæɡən) /


noun
  1. the Wagon another name for the Plough

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with wagon

wagon

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.