charabanc

British

/ ˈʃærəˌbæŋ, ʃarabɑ̃ /

noun

obsolete a motor coach, esp one used for sightseeing tours

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of charabanc

C19: from French char-à-bancs, wagon with seats

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But let’s not punish Johnson for the mute words of a charabanc.

From The Guardian • May 13, 2016

Phil Mickelson sports the sort of thick black gauntlets that Toad of Toad Hall would pull on for a spin in his charabanc.

From BBC • Sep. 26, 2014

This second charabanc jumps around just as much as his first, taking in reggae, a piano ballad, soft rock and vocoder funk.

From The Guardian • Dec. 9, 2012

Namely the same old primal activities that people have experienced forever without kidding themselves that, if the whole charabanc were to come to a halt tomorrow, they wouldn't be a little disappointed.

From The Guardian • Nov. 24, 2012

I have no doubt that there it will be my blithesome duty continually to back a charabanc with a fierce clutch up an interminable equivalent of the Eiffel Tower.

From Jonah and Co. by Yates, Dornford

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023