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rickshaw

 - 5 dictionary results

rick⋅shaw

[rik-shaw, -shah]
–noun
jinrikisha.
Also, ricksha, rikisha, rikshaw.


Origin:
1885–90; by shortening and contr.

jin⋅rik⋅i⋅sha

[jin-rik-shaw, -shah]
–noun
a small, two-wheeled, cartlike passenger vehicle with a fold-down top, pulled by one person, formerly used widely in Japan and China.
Also, jin⋅rick⋅sha, jin⋅rick⋅shaw, jin⋅rik⋅sha.
Also called rickshaw, ricksha.


Origin:
1870–75; < Japn, equiv. to jin person + -riki power + -sha vehicle (< MChin, equiv. to Chin rénlì shē)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rickshaw
rick·sha or rick·shaw   (rĭk'shô)   
n.  A jinriksha.

[Short for jinriksha.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rickshaw 
1887, shortened form of jinrikisha, popularized by Kipling, from Japanese jin "a man" + riki "power" + sha "carriage."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

rickshaw

(Japanese: "human-powered vehicle"), two-wheeled vehicle with a doorless, chairlike body and a collapsible hood, that holds one or two passengers and is drawn by a man between two shafts. It was used widely in the Orient but was largely superseded by the pedicab (q.v.), a ricksha driven by bicycle.

Learn more about rickshaw with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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