: a small four-wheeled railroad car propelled by a hand-operated mechanism or by a small motor
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebNaperville’s progress from the days of the handcar moving through the prairie to the age of the steam engine train. Suzanne Baker, chicagotribune.com, 9 Oct. 2021 The diplomats pushed the handcar for over a mile to get it across the border. Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 26 Feb. 2021 The group of eight embassy staff and members of their families, including children, first took a 32-hour train ride and then a bus to reach the border area, the ministry said, where the handcar was readied and mounted on to the tracks. Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 26 Feb. 2021 This column picks up the story after the thieves abandoned a railroad handcar used to escape from New Windsor and joined an accomplice waiting in Westminster with a horse and carriage for the rest of the getaway. Mary Ann Ashcraft, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 24 Oct. 2020
Word History
First Known Use
1833, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
handcar
noun
hand·car ˈhand-ˌkär
: a small railroad car that is made to move by hand or by a small motor