Conestoga wagon

[ kon-uh-stoh-guh, kon- ]

noun
  1. a large, heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon, used especially for transporting pioneers and freight across North America during the early westward migration.

Origin of Conestoga wagon

1
First recorded in 1690–1700; named after Conestoga, Pa., where it was first made
  • Also called Con·es·to·ga.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Conestoga wagon in a sentence

  • He commenced experimenting with paddle-wheels when a mere boy, in 1779, visiting an aunt living on the bank of the Conestoga.

  • About thirty large Conestoga wagons, each drawn by four stout bullocks, were moving along slowly and in single file.

    In Hostile Red | Joseph Altsheler
  • The first shot from the "Conestoga" struck the water a few feet from the "Yankee," and, ricochetting, plunged into her hull.

  • An hour's hard work with axes and crowbars, and the draw was swung far enough to let pass the "Conestoga" and the "Lexington."

  • Rhoda took the Conestoga bonnet from the top of the Entailed Hat box, and arrayed herself in it, to the rector's exceeding wonder.

    The Entailed Hat | George Alfred Townsend

British Dictionary definitions for Conestoga wagon

Conestoga wagon

/ (ˌkɒnɪˈstəʊɡə) /


noun
  1. US and Canadian a large heavy horse-drawn covered wagon used in the 19th century

Origin of Conestoga wagon

1
C19: after Conestoga, Pennsylvania, where it was first made

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