wagon
Americannoun
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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.
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Informal. station wagon.
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a police van for transporting prisoners; patrol wagon.
The fight broke up before the wagon arrived.
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(initial capital letter) Charles's Wain.
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British. a railway freight car or flatcar.
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Archaic. a chariot.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
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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.
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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.
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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.
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off the / one's wagon,
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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.
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returning to an unhealthy or bad habit.
I’m usually on a diet, but sometimes I go off my wagon.
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circle the wagons. circle.
noun
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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
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a railway freight truck, esp an open one
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a child's four-wheeled cart
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a police van for transporting prisoners and those arrested
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See station wagon
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an obsolete word for chariot
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informal no longer abstaining from alcoholic drinks
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informal abstaining from alcoholic drinks
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- wagonless adjective
Etymology
Origin of wagon
First recorded in 1505–15; from Dutch wagen; cognate with Old English wægn “farm wagon”; wain
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
I met a man driving a wagon and asked him how far it was to The Kingdom and what direction.
From Literature
He curled spikily around her neck and they towed the wagon across the grassland, up to the tangled vines and ferns of the rain forest.
From Literature
Chicago inventor Charles Cretors unveiled a steam-powered wagon capable of popping corn consistently and at volume.
Dawn has reported on airlines and travel for three decades and has been doling out travel tips since an eighth grade trip from Connecticut to Disney World in the family station wagon.
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.
