wrecking car
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of wrecking car
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
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.
Instead of the nondescript trucks and decrepit coaches of the ordinary Chinese 'accommodation,' there was in tow just one caboose-like vehicle, labeled in clear English a ' wrecking car.'
From Time Magazine Archive
“Here, men,” he called to his assistants on the wrecking car, “fetch this fellow into the shanty yonder.”
From Ralph on the Engine The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail by Chapman, Allen
“The wrecking car is going to the bridge, Fairbanks,” said the official.
From Ralph on the Engine The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail by Chapman, Allen
He remembered his work, the wrecking car, and the wrecking crew that had toiled under him, and he wondered what had become of Clancey, his right-hand man.
From Jerry of the Islands by London, Jack
It consisted of a wrecking car, a caboose, and one coach with tender and engine.
From Robert Hardy's Seven Days A Dream and Its Consequences by Sheldon, Charles Monroe
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.
