paint the wagon

verb

To get things done.

“John, you still haven’t closed that deal; you need to paint that wagon now!”

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Meanings

verbpaint the wagon (third-person singular simple present paints the wagon, present participle painting the wagon, simple past and past participle painted the wagon)

present singular third person paints the wagon · participle present painting the wagon · participle past painted the wagon · past painted the wagon

  1. idiomaticTo get things done.

    John, you still haven’t closed that deal; you need to paint that wagon now!

Origin

Business jargon, based on the title song of the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon, I'm on my wayhttp://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/paintyourwagon/paintyourwagonimonmyway.htm: : Gotta dream boy : Gotta song : Paint your wagon : And come along

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

paint the wagon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paint%20the%20wagon

MLA

“paint the wagon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paint%20the%20wagon. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paint the wagon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paint%20the%20wagon.

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