char-à-banc

American  

[shar-uh-bang, -bangk, sha-ra-bahn] / ˈʃær əˌbæŋ, -ˌbæŋk, ʃa raˈbɑ̃ /

Or charabanc

noun

British.

plural

char-à-bancs

1. a large bus used on sightseeing tours, especially one with open sides and no center aisle.

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Etymology

Origin of char-à-banc

1810–20; back formation from French char-à-bancs literally, car with benches, the -s being taken as plural ending of word as a whole

Example Sentences

"There was something else—I should not speak of it—" They were standing in the shadow of the char-à-banc.

From The Californians by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn

A heavy char-à-banc rolled by, and the words of Tiny and Ila came distinctly to the two in hiding.

From The Californians by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn

Here we landed in a pilot-boat, with some Danish gentlemen, who were very civil to us, and by their aid we engaged a char-à-banc, and drove to Copenhagen the same evening.

From Fred Markham in Russia The Boy Travellers in the Land of the Czar by Landells, R. T.

There will be eight of us, and the char-à-banc holds twelve, so we shall have plenty of room.”

From Sisters Three by Lloyd, Stanley

It would be a longer expedition even than to Vesuvius, and as many were anxious to take part it was arranged to hire a motor char-à-banc to accommodate about twenty-four girls and several teachers.

From The Jolliest School of All by Brazil, Angela