Word forms: plural wagonsregional note: in BRIT, also use waggon
1. countable noun
A wagon is a strong vehicle with four wheels, usually pulled by horses or oxen and used for carrying heavy loads.
2. countable noun
A wagon is a large container on wheels which is pulled by a train.
[mainly British]regional note: in AM, use freight car
3.
See on the wagon
4. See also station wagon
wagon in British English
or 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
3. US and Canadian
a child's four-wheeled cart
4. US and Canadian
a police van for transporting prisoners and those arrested
5. mainly US and Canadian station wagon
6. an obsolete word for chariot
7. off the wagon
8. on the wagon
verb
9. (transitive)
to transport by wagon
Derived forms
wagonless (ˈwagonless) or waggonless (ˈwaggonless)
adjective
Word origin
C16: from Dutch wagenwain
Wagon in British English
or Waggon (ˈwæɡən)
noun
the Wagon
wagon in American English
(ˈwægən)
noun
1.
any of various types of four-wheeled vehicles
; specif.,
a.
a horse-drawn vehicle for hauling heavy loads
b.
a small cart pulled or steered by means of a pole handle and used by children in play
2. US
a.
patrol wagon
b.
station wagon
3. British
a railroad freight car
verb transitive, verb intransitive
4.
to carry or transport (goods) by wagon; move or go in a wagon
Idioms:
fix someone's wagon
hitch one's wagon to a star
on (or off) the wagon
the Wagon
Word origin
Du wagen < PGmc *wagna-: see wain
More idioms containing
wagon
be on the wagon
hitch your wagon to someone
Examples of 'wagon' in a sentence
wagon
He mistimed his jump and his legs went under the wheels of a wagon.
The Sun (2012)
Police wagons and fire wagons were not moving.
Christianity Today (2000)
They had large wagons pulled by pairs of horses.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They lived in a tent made from the cover of the wagon until he built a house.
Garraty, John Arthur The American Nation: A History of the United States to 1877 (1995)
We overtook carts and wagons stacked with fruit and veg.
Hyland, Paul Indian Balm - Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (1994)
He is rescued by a wagon train and nursed back to health.
The Sun (2008)
We had the wagons circled for long periods.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He escaped en route by ripping up the floorboards of a railway wagon.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The covered wagon was a misleading symbol.
Charles Glass The Tribes Triumphant (2006)
About half an hour from the city there was a hill where the wagons and horses again were halted.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
Trains that pass prisons should also remember to leave a wagon door open so the fugitives can jump in.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
His footwork was assured against spin and seam and any batsman would be proud of a wagon wheel like this.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The two columns of carts and wagons only just had room to pass side by side on the narrow road.
Iain Gale Man of Honour (2007)
Big kits mean heavy wagons, and heavy wagons mean no kits at all.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The sand was loaded into horse-drawn wagons and carried to the barges lying in the basin.
Atterbury, Paul Exploring Britain's Canals (1994)
With difficulty and with risk of life, people worked their way over the horses and wagons.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
If we are a wagon train, this is our fort.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
His wagon wheel shows he was able to score freely in one of his areas of strength: square on the on side.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
After dark, the horse wagons come up and carry the wounded back to the field ambulance, two or three miles to the rear.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
wagon
British English: wagon NOUN
A wagon is a strong vehicle with four wheels, usually pulled by animals.
American English: wagon
Brazilian Portuguese: carroça
Chinese: 四轮运货马 > 车或牛
European Spanish: carro
French: chariot
German: Waggon
Italian: carro
Japanese: 四輪車
Korean: 사륜 짐마차
European Portuguese: carroça
Latin American Spanish: carro
All related terms of 'wagon'
tea wagon
→ tea cart
the Wagon
→ Charles's Wain
wagon-lit
a sleeping car on a European railway
chip wagon
a small van in which chips are cooked and sold
chuck wagon
a wagon carrying provisions and cooking utensils for people, such as cowboys , who work in the open
goods wagon
a railway wagon carrying merchandise
honey wagon
a wagon or truck for collecting and carrying excrement or manure
mammy wagon
a W African vehicle built on a lorry chassis , capable of carrying both passengers and goods
paddy wagon
→ patrol wagon
tank wagon
a form of railway wagon carrying a tank for the transport of liquids
wagon train
a supply train of horses and wagons , esp one going over rough terrain
wagon vault
a vault in the form of a half cylinder
baggage wagon
a car on a passenger train that is designed to carry passengers' baggage ; a luggage van
covered wagon
A covered wagon is a wagon that has an arched canvas roof and is pulled by horses . Covered wagons were used by the early American settlers as they travelled across the country .
dinner wagon
a small table on casters used for conveying food, drink, etc
patrol wagon
A patrol wagon is a van or truck which the police use for transporting prisoners.
police wagon
a police van for transporting prisoners
station wagon
A station wagon is a car with a long body, a door at the rear, and space behind the back seats.
wagon soldier
a soldier belonging to the field artillery
Welcome Wagon
a welcoming service that provides information about a community to new residents
Conestoga wagon
a large heavy horse-drawn covered wagon used in the 19th century
on the wagon
Someone who is on the wagon has stopped drinking alcohol .
off the wagon
no longer abstaining from alcoholic drinks
be on the wagon
to have stopped drinking alcohol
barrel vault
a vault in the form of a half cylinder
fix someone's wagon
to hurt someone in some way so as to be revenged for a wrong, insult , etc.
paddy waggon
a police van for transporting prisoners
on (or off) the wagon
no longer (or once again) drinking alcoholic liquors
hitch your wagon to someone
to try to become more successful by forming a relationship with someone who is already successful