charabanc
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Borrowed from French char-à-bancs (literally “carriage with benches”).
Inflected forms:
form: charabancs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: char-à-banc
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: A horse-drawn, and then later, motorized omnibus with open sides, and often, no roof.
pos: noun
tags: UK
historical
examples: A little further on, to the right, was a large garage, where the charabancs stood, half in and half out of the yard.
And full of colored dreams / Deep inside a rainbow / Lived Happiness Stan / In a small Victorian charabanc
The cumbersome though finely painted charabanc of the late James style is pulled swaying along by a frisky pony of a plot farcical and romantic.
gloss: A bus, especially one hired by groups for pleasure outings, what was later called a coach.
pos: noun
tags: UK
dated
examples: Oh shit, there goes the charabanc!
Looks like I'm gonna be stuck here the whole summer
Mum had worked there as a teenager and once recalled her duty of having to meet the charabancs that brought the well-heeled to the baths from Droitwich station before the war.
gloss: A vehicle that is slow, overcrowded, or otherwise undesirable.
pos: noun
tags: UK
informal
examples: We return to the charabanc of a car to find a swarm of children dancing round it, clambering up the back, jumping on the step; the driver sleeps peacefully at the wheel, oblivious of their shrieks.
Just as I'm thinking my plan has failed an old charabanc of a vehicle slows down and starts hooting.
It was lucky therefore that I kept an eye on the quayside blackboard by the stern of the "Patmos Star", a charabanc of a daytrip boat that was to transport me and my bags to the tiny island of Lipsí, a short hop from Patmos.
[…] but Mark has never even sat on a motorbike, let alone ridden one before and certainly not with a rowboat attached and a spasmatic dog riding pillion. It was nice to see that there was stillsome good old-fashioned British embarrassment left, as straggling past Philippe with a muttered "Au revoir, Breton.", we pushed the whole charabanc a mile up the road until there was no sign of habitation; in France even the lamp-posts have eyes.
The lantern got closer until eventually the sound, smell and heat of dogs was upon them, and a train of huskies stopped in a great cloud of steam. The whole charabanc emitted a strong smell of hot stew, which my mum remembers as the most heavenly thing she had ever smelt.
gloss: An elaborate production or endeavor involving many people or things.
pos: noun
examples: For all their lean and hungry look, and for all they wear the simplest of dhotis around their loins, they usually have clever accomplices in the crowd, and a whole charabanc full of invisible wires and concealed cabinets.
He comes along all dressed up in the real deal costume, all the sequins and rhinestone, the heavyweight boxing belt, the cape, the whole charabanc, you know?
Schuman's European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, which set the whole charabanc rolling, operated in the interests of producers.
Nevertheless, I felt responsible. I'd started the whole charabanc. It was my band.
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