water wagon
Definition
Noun: 1. A horse-drawn or motorized vehicle designed to carry and distribute water: Specifically, a wagon equipped with a tank for transporting water, historically used to supply troops, work crews, or to dampen unpaved roads to control dust.
Usage and Examples
- Historical Context: The term is most commonly associated with pre-automobile and early 20th-century infrastructure.
- In the dry summer months, the town sent the water wagon down the main street to settle the dust.
- The construction camp relied on a daily visit from the water wagon for drinking and cooking.
Advanced Usage and Idioms
- "(to be/go) on the (water) wagon": An idiom meaning to abstain completely from drinking alcoholic beverages.
- After his health scare, he decided to go on the wagon.
- She's been on the water wagon for six months now.
Variants and Related Words
- Water cart: A smaller, often hand-drawn, vehicle for carrying water.
- Water truck: The modern motorized equivalent used for construction, dust control, or firefighting.
- Tanker: A general term for a vehicle, ship, or plane designed to transport liquids in bulk.
Synonyms
- Water tanker
- Water cart
Notes on Meaning
The primary, literal meaning of "water wagon" is now largely historical. In contemporary English, the term is almost exclusively encountered in the idiomatic phrase "on the (water) wagon" to indicate temperance. The idiom originates from the late 19th/early 20th century, suggesting a person would rather drink water from the wagon than frequent saloons.
Noun
-
a wagon that carries water (as for troops or work gangs or to sprinkle down dusty dirt roads in the summertime)
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