Synonyms

covered wagon

American

noun

a large wagon with a high, bonnetlike canvas top, especially such a wagon used by pioneers to transport themselves and their possessions across the North American plains during the westward migrations in the 19th century.
British Railroads. a boxcar.

covered wagon British

noun

a large wagon with an arched canvas top, used formerly for prairie travel

"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

covered wagon Cultural

A typical conveyance for settlers moving west with their belongings. It was drawn by horses or oxen and equipped with a canvas cover, often supported by hoops, to keep off rain.

Etymology

Origin of covered wagon

An Americanism dating back to 1735–45

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.

He bought a team of big red Missouri mules and a covered wagon.

From Literature

From an Iowa farm family that came west in a covered wagon, Con Keeler had grown up tinkering with radios and could cobble together crude bugs using telephone and hearing aid parts.

From Los Angeles Times

A week or so before that, “A Prayer for a New Life,” artist Morgan Weistling’s westward-expansion-era scene featuring a white family in a covered wagon making their way across golden plains.

From Los Angeles Times

Srinivasan, who is Indian American, said that although the covered wagon painting is not offensive in and of itself, the timing of the Homeland Security post raises questions about the government’s intended meaning.

From Los Angeles Times

I doubted Dryden would last very long in a covered wagon out on the prairie.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023