Meanings
plural Conestoga wagons · alternative Conestogoe wagon
- A heavy covered wagon with a curved boatlike body popular in the United States from about 1750–1850.First known use 1717
The heavy and boat-shaped Conestoga wagon should not be confused with the lighter and cheaper prairie schooners that largely replaced them.
1 more example
During the summer and fall the covered broad-wheeled Conestoga wagons, moved by four or six splendid draught-horses, were constantly employed in transporting the productions of the county to market.
1866, Stewart Pearce, Annals of Luzerne County: A Record of Interesting Events, Traditions, and Anecdotes, J. B. Lippincott & Co., page 344Synonyms: Dutch wagon, Conestoga, Conestoga wain
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA heavy covered wagon with a curved boatlike body popular in the United States from about 1750–1850.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna large wagon with broad wheels and an arched canvas top; used by the United States pioneers to cross the prairies in the 19th century
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania, USA, whose settlers presumably developed early forms.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Conestoga wagon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Conestoga%20wagon
“Conestoga wagon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Conestoga%20wagon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Conestoga wagon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Conestoga%20wagon.
Source: Conestoga wagon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.