English

Alternative forms

• pump-car

Noun

pump car ‎(plural pump cars)

1. A light railroad car propelled by a hand-operated pumping mechanism; a handcar.
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XII, p. 191,

     Down from Black Adder came Tim O'Cannon and his gang, pumping a pump-car for all they were worth, trailing behind them a flat-top trolley packed with Tim's Blossom and his six quadroons.

   • 1986, Carlton E. Appelo, A Pioneer Scrapbook of the Columbia River North-Shore Communities: Wahkiakum and Pacific Counties, Washington, 1900-1985, self-published, p. 105,

     To reach their destination, the group had to go down from camp on pump cars, four miles by rail to Deep River; here they took boats to Svenson's Landing, two miles down the river and then walked the remaining six miles with the musicians carrying their instruments.

2. A child's tricycle operated by similar action.
   • 1944, Popular Mechanics, April 1944, p. 89,

     There's no reason why junior can't have a pump car due to metal priorities because you can make an all-wood model.

Synonyms

• (railroad car): handcar, jigger, Kalamazoo (Australia), pump trolley