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Definition 2024


pump_car

pump car

See also: pump-car

English

Alternative forms

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