cat wagon

noun

A small brothel operating out of a wagon or similar vehicle, servicing travelling labourers, soldiers etc.

Meanings

nouncat wagon (plural cat wagons)

plural cat wagons

  1. UShistoricalslangA small brothel operating out of a wagon or similar vehicle, servicing travelling labourers, soldiers etc.

    There was an uproad from the fire-eaters, who imagined they were fighting for human dignity and freedom from the northern elite, but more cat wagons were requisitioned and the complaining stopped.

    2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 441
    1 more example

    “Kid, I like women too, but not that way. You need time to get acquainted, drink a little, talk a little. In the cat wagon you got to get it over with and out in five minutes, no time to button your pants.”

    1975, Nels Anderson, The American Hobo, page 54
Cite this entry
APA

cat wagon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat%20wagon

MLA

“cat wagon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat%20wagon. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cat wagon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat%20wagon.

Source: cat wagon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.