Wagon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Wagon (disambiguation).

"Dray" redirects here. For the songwriter, see Dray Skky.

Wagon with horses harnessed to its tongue.

A wagon (in British English, sometimes waggon) or dray (low, sideless) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle. Wagons were formerly pulled by animals such as horses, mules or oxen. Today farm wagons are pulled by tractors and trucks. Wagons are used for transportation of people or goods. Wagons are distinguished from carts (which is small and has two wheels), or a semi-trailor (which is large and has two wheels), and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles such as carriages. A wagon could be pulled by one animal or by several, often in pairs.

Sometimes, the word wagon is also used for railroad cars (not motorized, for goods or passengers), and the word is a part / the usual short form of station wagon, the non-British term for a sedan (saloon) with an extended rear cargo area. Other names: estate (car) / shooting brake (UK), break (F), station sedan (Aus), Kombi (generally in German, in English also varied to combi), Variant (VW models), Caravan (GM's Opel models), Avant (Audi's wagons), Touring (BMW's wagons).

The word is also sometimes used as a colloquialism for any vehicle, particularly in the British Military.