wagon

—wagonless, adj.

/wag"euhn/, n.

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. See station wagon.

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

4. (cap.) Astron. Charles's Wain. See Big Dipper.

5. Brit. a railway freight car or flatcar.

6. a baby carriage.

7. Archaic. a chariot.

8. circle the wagons. See circle (def. 21).

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. off the wagon, Slang. again drinking alcoholic beverages after a period of abstinence.

12. on the wagon, Slang. abstaining from alcoholic beverages. Also, on the water wagon; Brit., on the water cart.

v.t.

13. to transport or convey by wagon.

v.i.

14. to proceed or haul goods by wagon: It was strenuous to wagon up the hill. Also, esp. Brit., waggon.

[1505-15; < D wagen; c. OE waegn WAIN]

Syn. 1. cart, van, wain, truck, dray, lorry.

* * *

Four-wheeled vehicle designed to be drawn by draft animals.

Wagons have been used from the 1st century BC; early examples used spoked wheels with metal rims, pivoted front axles, and linchpins to secure the wheels. Ninth-century improvements in suspension made the wagon preferable to the two-wheeled cart, especially for carrying freight and agricultural produce.

* * *

▪ musical instrument

also called  yamato-goto  

      musical instrument, Japanese six-stringed board zither with movable bridges. The wooden body of the wagon is about 190 cm (75 inches) in length. The musician plays the wagon while seated behind the instrument, which rests on the floor. The strings may be strummed with a plectrum (which is held in the right hand), the fingers of the left hand, or a combination of the two techniques.

      The strings of the wagon are not tuned in ascending order but form a pentatonic scale in the following manner (from the string farthest from the player): e′, g′, b′, d′, a′, d″. This unusual tuning relates to the instrument's primary performance practice, which consists of four arpeggio-like, formalized patterns (san, ji, oru, and tsumu), rather than melodies.

      The wagon is closely associated with gagaku (court music), Shintō, and vocal music. Some claim, based on 3rd-century Japanese artifacts, that the instrument is indigenous to Japan, but others believe that it was imported from Korea.

▪ vehicle

 four-wheeled vehicle designed to be drawn by draft animals and known to have been used as early as the 1st century BC, incorporating such earlier innovations as the spoked wheel and metal wheel rim. Early examples also had such features as pivoted front axles and linchpins to secure the wheels. In its essential form, therefore, the wagon has been in common use for about 2,000 years.

 During the 9th century several additional improvements in harness and suspension led to a marked preference for wagons over carts as a means of passenger and long-distance transportation. Wagons were heavier than carts in construction, with a boxlike body that was useful for hauling freight and agricultural produce and a smoother ride due to the inherent stability of being supported on four wheels rather than two. Wagons were produced in many sizes and types, and those used for the carrying of passengers were equipped with springs between the box and the running gear. The coach variation was a later innovation, becoming a distinct form in the 16th century. One type of wagon, the Conestoga, became famous as a freight wagon during the 18th century, and its descendant, the prairie schooner, was the most common vehicle used by settlers in the opening of the American West.

 

* * *