Sick-wagon
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 a covered wagon used to convey or transport those who are sick in a wagon train historical
"The sick-wagon appeared only a silver dot in the crimsoning distance. Except for her son, the black woman was along in the wagon."
- 2 a vehicle used to convey or transport those who are sick or injured dated
"This corps is divided into companies, one for each division of .the army corps ; and, duly supplied with sick-waggons, store-carts, and litters, is placed entirely at the disposal of the medical officers."
- 3 a (modern) ambulance nonstandard, rare
"A hundred and twenty-eight ambulances were provided for the Fourth corps, and yet the fear of the disgrace of having been carted in the sick wagon, and the general good assurance of the men that they are going on no fools errand, kept the men square up to the regiment."
Example
More examples"The sick-wagon appeared only a silver dot in the crimsoning distance. Except for her son, the black woman was along in the wagon."
Etymology
From sick + wagon. Sense of "ambulance" likely a calque of German Krankenwagen.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.