wain

plural wains · alternative obsolete wayn

1. archaicliteraryA wagon; a four-wheeled cart for hauling loads, usually pulled by horses or oxen.

   "The Hay Wain" is a famous painting by John Constable.

   1 more example

   Many roads and tracks crossed the green fields, and there was much coming and going: wains moving in lines towards the Great Gate, and others passing out.

   1955 October 20, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Minas Tirith”, in The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings […], New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published December 1978, →ISBN, book V, page 40

2. archaiccommunicationsA chariot or similar stately carriage.

   And the hill-king spake to his footpages twain. Time with me goes slow. — "Put ye the gray pacers now unto the wain," But that grief is heavy I know.

   1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 175

present singular third person wains · participle present waining · participle past wained · past wained

1. raretransitiveTo carry.

present singular third person wains · participle present waining · participle past wained · past wained

1. misspellingMisspelling of wane.

   As the auto industry is waining away, the city is looking for something new. http://www.modeldmedia.com/inthenews/urbanfarm15108.aspx

   2008, "From Mowtown to ‘Growtown’? Detroit’s urban farming catches the eye of the BBC", modelD

plural wains

1. alternativeAlternative form of wean.

plural Wains

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA village in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

1. abbreviationellipsisastronomyEllipsis of Charles' Wain.

   Bee! thou little mundane bird! Fly away to where I bid thee; O'er the moon, beneath the sun, Behind the lofty heaven's stars, Close by the Wain's axle - fly To the great Creator's court.

   1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 315