steam wagon

The old North Eastern Railway, which was a pioneer in so many directions, obtained powers in 1905 for mechanical road operation, and shortly afterwards began to operate both steam wagons and petrol-driven buses. The steam wagons were used on country cartage services, but presumably they proved too expensive, and they were replaced by petrol-driven vehicles.

1944 November and December, T. F. Cameron, “Motor and Cartage Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 335:

(historical) An early steam-powered road vehicle for carrying freight.


electric rickshaw

en-noun

electric rickshaw (plural electric rickshaws)

A three-wheeled rickshaw pulled by an electric motor and running on battery.


electric bus

(transport) A passenger bus powered by electricity via an electric motor, with the source of power either from rechargeable batteries or by drawing power from overhead wires. The latter form is generally called a trolleybus.


side-loader

side-loaders (plural)
sideloader (alternative)

The tank is designed to withstand all the stresses of handling by side-loader, which are less than with other methods of handling.

1964 August, “Oil transport by demountable tank”, in Modern Railways, page 101:

A forklift truck which has its forks mounted on one side.


shagging wagon

shagging wagons (plural)
shaggin' wagon (alternative)
shag wagon (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shagging wagon.wav

those utes also ended up as a 'shagging wagons' after the rodeo, so they were a multi-purpose vehicle, many a country baby was conceived in the back of a Holden ute during the 1950s and 1960s.

Corrine parks in shadows in a corner of the parking lot and proceeds to put all the seats down to make the wagon a shagging wagon, for sure.

2017, Save Horton, Mike's Navy - part five: Changes:


crab dolly

In reference to the sideways motion of a crab.

(film) A camera dolly whose front wheels steer in the same direction as the rear wheels.


rough rider

because you are full of old festered wounds, you must have corrosive salves, for that is best for you, and the speediest way to recover your health: and forasmuch as you be rough horses, you must have a rough rider, and hard knobby timber must have hard wedges, and hard strokes with a beetle ["mallet"].

a. 1607, Arthur Dent, A Sermon of Repentaunce. A verie godly and profitable sermon, preached at Lee in Essex. B.L., Thomas Snodham for Roger Jackson, published 1615:

Our best rough-rider had mounted him, with a view of thoroughly "taking it out of him," and I never witnessed a better display of horsemanship.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 77:

A person whose specialty is the breaking in or training of wild horses.


passion wagon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-passion wagon.wav

(slang) Synonym of fuckmobile (“a vehicle used for sexual intercourse”).


e-taxi

A vehicle operating as part of an e-hail service.


serial-killer van

serial-killer van (plural serial-killer vans)

serial killer van
serial killer van#English


mechanical horse

mechanical horse (plural mechanical horses)

Three views showing various units of the G.W.R. fleet of mechanical horses engaged in the delivery in London of what are termed officially "galvanised corrugated steel shelters." The G.W.R. effected its deliveries from the Paddington and South Lambeth depots

1939 November, Charles E. Lee, “Railways and the War — I”, in Railway Magazine, page 312, photo caption:

But the horse has left his mark, for his successor is a mechanical horse designed to a large extent to copy the leading characteristics of the live horse; easy attachment to or detachment from its load, a small turning circle, a small appetite for petrol, but giving a much higher acceleration and speed, and so capable of much greater distances, so that fewer cartage units are required.

A three-wheeled tractor unit which was usually coupled to a short semitrailer.


Karrier

A former make of commercial vehicle manufactured in England, which included lorries, buses and trolleybuses.


coach-built

(of a vehicle) Having specially built bodywork, built to order.


mancheel

mancheels (plural)
manjeel (alternative)
muncheel (alternative)
munchil (alternative)
munsheel (alternative)
monchil (alternative)

From Malayalam, from Sanskrit or from Classical Persian مَنْزِل (manzil), from Arabic مَنْزِل (manzil, “house; inn; stage of a journey, day's travel”).

der

A Muncheel is a kind of litter, resembling a sea-cot, or hammock, hung to a long pole, with a moveable covering over the whole, to keep off the sun or rain. Six men will run with one from one end of the Malabar coast to the other, while twelve are necessary for the lightest palanquin.

1830, James Welsh, Military Reminiscences, volume II, page 142:

The muncheel or manjeel..., also written munsheel and munchil, from the Malayālam manjīl, manjāl, mañchīl, mañchāl and Sanskrit maṇcha, is the name given to a kind of hammock-litter used on the south-west coast of India... It is shaded by a cover, which in some cases is held up by a frame of bent canes.

2002, Norman Mosley Penzer, Poison Damsels, page 231:

(India, chiefly historical) A covered hammock litter developed in southwest India.


radio car

Daniels: Can I get you out of a radio car? ... I'm short two men in ops and my follow-up squad couldn't make a case to save its life. You're too damned good to be humpin' calls.

2006 Sept. 10, David Simon & al., "Boys of Summer", The Wire, 00:23:10

(US law enforcement slang) Synonym of police car.


LWB

Coordinate term: SWB

The cards require interpretation, and the interpretations offered by the LWBs, traditional or not, are ultimately only scaffolding on which to hang your own intuition, which is something you acquire over a period of time and with much trial and error.

2008, Paul Huson, “The Arcane Roots of Tarot”, in The Witches' Almanac, number 27, page 13:

The goal is not to memorize the cards in the LWB, but to develop a relationship with the cards.

2013, Patrick Dunn, Cartomancy with the Lenormand and the Tarot: Create Meaning and Gain Insight from the Cards, page 62:

Looking back, I think that learning by the LWB was a great way to start.

2023, Julia Gordon-Bramer, Tarot Life Lessons: Living Wisdom from the Major Arcana:

(tarot) Initialism of little white book; a type of small instructional guide included with mass-market tarot decks.


LWB

Coordinate term: SWB


skip lorry

(British) A commercial vehicle, fitted with a hydraulic hoist, which delivers skips (for rubble, waste and general rubbish) to customers, and collects them once they have been filled for emptying at a landfill site.


gas guzzling

en-adj

gas guzzling (comparative more gas guzzling, superlative most gas guzzling)

more gas guzzling (comparative)
most gas guzzling (superlative)
gas-guzzling (alternative)

(informal) Of a vehicle: that consumes a large amount of fuel.


power unit

The combination unit was traversing a straight section of roadway, on an approximate 4 percent upgrade, when the tractor began to jackknife. As the power unit rotated clockwise, it left the roadway to the right and traveled several feet before the driver corrected the jackknife. The unit was redirected toward the travel lanes, however, before it re-entered the roadway, it rotated counterclockwise, and the driver lost control. The power unit crossed into the eastbound lane where it was struck in the right side by an eastbound van. Although a saddle tank on the power unit ruptured, there was no fire.

1988 October 12, National Transportation Safety Board, “CASE NO. 9”, in Safety Study: Case Summaries of 189 Heavy Truck Accident Investigations, archived from the original on 2017-02-17:

(transport) A truck (large road vehicle) capable of moving under its own power.

For many years the horse provided a cheap and effective power unit for town cartage, but in recent years it has been replaced largely by mechanical power.

Any other unit capable of providing power.


two-wheel drive

en-noun

two-wheel drive (countable and uncountable, plural two-wheel drives)

(vehicles) A four-wheeled vehicle in which only two of the wheels receive power from the engine.


bullock cart

Outside, beyond the sun-baked station yard, a rice mill chugged away in the distance, and sweating coolies unloaded bags of rice from creaking bullock carts.

1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:


flying car

(aircraft, science fiction, vehicles) A vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft.


local taxi

local taxi (plural local taxis or local taxies)

local taxis (plural)
local taxies (plural)

On Saturday, we paid a visit to two of the local taxi ranks to see whether drivers, commuters, and vendors adhere to the regulations.

2021 January 21, Bernard Chiguvare, “Local taxi ranks to be disinfected”, in Limpopo Mirror:


baht bus

(Thailand) Synonym of songthaew, a pickup truck converted for use as a shared taxi.


aerocar

(science fiction) A flying car; a flying machine which looks and functions similarly to modern cars, often described as using antigravity technology.


gyrobus

(historical) An electric bus which stores energy in a flywheel rotating at high speeds (up to 3000 RPM) rather than batteries.


Fordson

For working the reinstated passenger service last summer, the large Fordson tractor, normally employed on the stone trains, was used.

1946 July and August, “Notes and News: The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 255:

A make of motor vehicle, notably tractors, produced by the Ford Motor Company. The name was dropped in 1964 and replaced by Ford.


Truck-kun

What if I was walking across the street when I was summoned, only to be dropped back in front of a speeding truck. Lots of dodgy stories start with Truck-kun, and I don't want mine to end with it.

2022, Dean Henegar, “The Summoned Life”, in Legendary LitRPG: An All Genres LitRPG Anthology, unnumbered page:

While Truck-kun does cause one form of ending—the character is dead in their original world—it's an integral part of the main character's transportation to a new world, one where they can explore, learn, and grow.

2022, Natasha Yglesias, Anime Tarot Deck and Guidebook: Explore the Archetypes, Symbolism, and Magic in Anime, page 29:

So I figure I might as well chuck a "Truck-kun" into my own story too! Gotta get in while the getting's good!!

2023, Shizuki Fujisawa, translated by Cerridwyn Graffham, The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch, volume 3, unnumbered page:

(chiefly Japanese fiction, fandom slang, humorous) In the isekai genre, a truck that sets off the plot by hitting the protagonist, transporting them into the fantastical setting (typically by killing them in the real world).


groundcar

This had footpaths worn into it alongside the buildings, while its centre had been tiled level with slabs of hard white ceramic to carry the few groundcars here.

2015, Neal Asher, Dark Intelligence, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 368:

(science fiction) A car unable to fly (as opposed to a flying car).


ladder wagon

(historical) An agricultural wagon with sides resembling ladders.


shag wagon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shag wagon.wav

(slang) Alternative form of shagging wagon.


delivery van

As the train approached Welshpool on the return journey, an unexpected incident was provided by a baker's delivery van, which had been drawn up across the track. Some skilful manoeuvring of the vehicle was necessary before the train could pass.

1949 November and December, “Note and News: By Special Train to Llanfair”, in Railway Magazine, page 410:

(British) An enclosed commercial vehicle used for deliveries to businesses and homes.


six-wheeler

Driver Cerr spent so long complaining to us about the quality of the coal that we had barely time to get into coach No. 51, the oldest type of third-class six-wheeler, as we moved off.

1950 April, Two Belfast Correspondents, “The Last Days of the Belfast and County Down Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 267:

A vehicle of any type fitted with six wheels.


day cab

A tractor unit without a sleeping berth.


police ambulance

police ambulance (plural police ambulances)

A police vehicle for transporting patients, especially prisoners.


ass cart

For many years the coal measures on the shores of Lough Allen were worked only in the most primitive fashion, and the coal was transported laboriously in the inevitable ass carts of the Irish peasant.

1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 339:

(vehicles) A cart hauled by an ass (the animal).


brake dust

(vehicles) Dust or residue generated from the friction between the brake pads and the brake rotors or drums in a vehicle's braking system.


rear wheel

(automotive, vehicles) Any wheel located at the back of a motor vehicle.


front wheel

(automotive, vehicles) Any wheel located at the front of a motor vehicle.


open-wheel

(vehicles, automotive, motor racing) Of a vehicle: having the wheels outside the vehicle's main body, and usually having only one seat.


braking time

(automotive, vehicles) The approximate duration of time required for a vehicle to come to a complete stop after applying the brakes.


mahannah

Alternative form of meeana, a kind of Indian litter.


bucket truck

The sign was nailed to the top of an electrical pole; the inability to remove it without a bucket truck reinforced the permanence of the opinion.

2024 July 15, Heidi Julavits, “I Put Up a Fence in Maine. Why Did It Cause Such a Fuss?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A truck fitted with an extendable, hydraulic boom carrying a large bucket for raising people to elevated areas.


range extender

auxiliary power unit
auxiliary power unit

battery electric vehicle
battery electric vehicle

(automotive) A fuel-based auxiliary power unit that extends the range of a battery electric vehicle by driving an electric generator that charges the vehicle's battery.


free surface effect

free surface effect (plural free surface effects)

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(physics, mechanical engineering) The tendency of liquids and liquid-like aggregates to move in response to changes in the attitude of a craft's cargo holds, decks, or liquid tanks in reaction to operator-induced motions (or sea states caused by waves and wind acting upon the craft).


road-rail vehicle

road-rail vehicle (plural road-rail vehicles)

The importance of track workers obeying site rules has been stressed after a man was hospitalised after being hit by a moving road-rail vehicle (RRV) and falling into the 'four foot' between the rails.

2024 June 26, “Network News: RAIB stresses importance of road-rail vehicle vehicle safety procedures”, in RAIL, number 1012, page 17:

(rail transport) A vehicle that can be driven along roads to a place where retractable railway wheels can be lowered onto railway track to allow it to be used on the railway, often used for maintenance and construction purposes.


party van

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-party van.wav

Attested 2006 in a comic posted on 4chan: FBI agents trick Anonymous into opening his door by claiming they are the “4chan party van”.

As ban puts it, "This is our razor-thin disclaimer which protects us in real-life" from what /b/tards refer to as "a ride in the FBI party van."

2008 January 18, Julian Dibbell, “Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World”, in Wired:

Who needs the FBI party van when you can just order CALEA take out?

2014 September 5, Sean Gallagher, “When NSA and FBI call for surveillance takeout, these companies deliver”, in Ars Technica:

(Internet slang, humorous) An FBI or other law enforcement van, especially if carrying agents coming to arrest someone for cybercrime.


meeana

meeanas (plural)
mahana (alternative)
mahanah (alternative)
mahanna (alternative)
mahannah (alternative)
mayana (alternative)
meyana (alternative)
mianna (alternative)
miyana (alternative)
miyanah (alternative)
mejanah (alternative)
myana (alternative)
myanna (alternative)

The lowest kind of palanquins, which are small litters suspended under a straight bamboo, by which they are carried, and shaded by a frame covered with cloth, do not admit the passenger to lie at length, and are here called Miyana, or Mahapa. In some places, these terms are considered as synonymous, in others, the Mayana is open at the sides, and is intended for carrying men, while the Mahapa, intended for women, is surrounded by curtains.

1838, Robert Montgomery Martin, “The History, Antiquities, Topography, and Statistics of Eastern India...”, in Bhagulpoor, Goruckpoor, and Dinajepoor, volume II, page 426:

(India, chiefly historical) A palanquin with open sides.


chowpaul

chowpauls (plural)
chaupala (alternative)
chowpal (alternative)

... the Chowpaul is the most ancient, and, as it were, the original from which all the other forms of palanquin may be traced; on this account it is used in all great ceremonies, marriages, processions, etc. The Chowpaul is simply a very light bed or sofa, over which a large bambou forms an arch. But as this is not a sufficient defence against the sun, it is always attended by a servant carrying a chata or parasol.

1811, François Balthazar Solvyns, Les Hindoûs, Vol. III, Section 8, No. 2:

With these beams and door and window frames send me... 10 chowpaul timbers the largest and the best you can get.

1915, Bengal Past & Present, volume 11, page 57:

(chiefly historical) A kind of open Indian litter whose support pole is curved in a wide arch over the bed.


takhtrawan

takhtrawans (plural)
takhtarawan (alternative)
takht-ravan (alternative)
takhtravan (alternative)
tatravan (alternative)
tahtravan (alternative)
tahtirevan (alternative)
takht-rawan (alternative)
takht rawan (alternative)
takhtirewan (alternative)
takht-i rawan (alternative)
takht-i-rawan (alternative)
takhterawan (alternative)
tackravan (alternative)
tack-ravan (alternative)
tact-ravan (alternative)
takht revan (alternative)
taht-revan (alternative)
takt-ravan (alternative)
taktrevan (alternative)
takht ravan (alternative)
takhtrevan (alternative)
taktravan (alternative)
takt-rawan (alternative)
taktrawan (alternative)

From Persian تخت روان (taxt-e ravân), partially via French tack-ravan, from Persian تخت (taxt, “throne, elevated seat or bed”) + روان (ravân, “walking, travelling, mobile”).

der

... a Tackravan, or a Field-Throne of admirable workmanship...

1671, François Bernier, translated by Henry Oldenburg, The History of the Late Revolution of the Empire of the Great Mogol..., volume II, page 24:

... gorgeous Takhtrewan, or litters carried between camels or mules with scarlet and brass trappings ...

1857, Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimate to El Medinah and Meccah, volume I, page 400:

An hour after the courier, the takhtrawan (which is a kind of litter borne by two mules) also arrived... her delicate state of health now rendered the exchange of her saddle for the litter most grateful, and even necessary.

1861, Justin Perkins, Missionary Life in Persia, pages 25-26:

His life was probably saved by Mr. Dwight... requesting the aid of a takhtirewán, the only native carriage known to the Persians. It resembles a sedan-chair, except in being borne by two mules or horses, and closed from the external air, and in requiring a lying posture.

1870, Rufus Anderson, chapter VI, in History of the Missions of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, volume I:

For men and women who suffer from being in the saddle for so many hours, there is a choice between the "kerjava" and the "takht-i-rawan"... although two mules carry a takht-i-rawan, those who employ this, the superior form of carriage, pay for four mules. The takht-i-rawan is used by great ladies of the Shah's court, by the aged and infirm, and by the ladies of the foreign embassies... One can rarely find a takht-i-rawan when such a carriage is wanted; they are usually built to order, and cost from six to ten pounds sterling.

1877, Robert Arthur Arnold, Through Persia by Caravan, page 125:

(Middle East and South Asia, chiefly historical) A covered litter carried by a pair of animals.


hammock litter

hammock litters (plural)
hammock-litter (alternative)

There is a kind of native hammock litter used in the Himalaya range of mountains known by the name of "dandie."

1869, Thomas Longmore, A Treatise on the Transport of Sick and Wounded Troops, page 105:

A Sailor's Hammock Litter

1889 November, James E. Pilcher, “A New Field of Honor”, in Scribner's Magazine, volume VI, number 5, page 612:

(chiefly historical) A form of litter consisting of a wide cloth suspended at each end from a pole carried by porters and used as a mode of transport.


shared taxi

In contrast to the mass transit role of the servis taxis in Amman, the shared taxis in Bahrain offered a specialised supplement to the main transport services. Only about 1.5% of all person trips per day were made in 1981 by shared taxi, and they carried only about a quarter as many passengers as the scheduled bus services...

1986, D. Coombe et al., “The Role of Paratransit”, in Moving People in Tomorrow's World..., page 115:

A vehicle for hire, typically smaller than a bus, taking passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, departing when all seats are filled.

泥鯭的

a vehicle for hire, taking passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables — see also marshrutka, matatu, songthaew

dollar van

van or minibus shared taxi in US contexts

marshrutka

minibus shared taxi in former Soviet contexts

mathree

minivan shared gypsy cab in East African contexts


maxicab

(Hong Kong) A minibus used as a shared taxi.


leaf truck

leaf trucks (plural)
leaftruck (alternative)

The dogs were barking over at the pigfarm,
the leaftruck was crawling through autumn,
lovers were unbuttoning in cellars
and what was I up to in that badlit attic?

1977, David Young, “The Names of a Hare in English: Les noms de un levre en englais”, in Poetry, volume 131, number 2, page 84 of 78-87:

A specialized vehicle, often a truck equipped with a vacuum system, used for collecting loose leaves from streets, sidewalks, and other areas.