Skip to main content
baggage car

baggage car

5 3.0
A train car that carries passengers' luggage
  • noun
  • /ˈbæɡɪdʒ kɑr/
  • US
translation icon : vagón de equipaje
  • Passengers can store their luggage safely in the baggage car during the journey.
  • passenger coach-baggage car
  • coach-baggage car

Examples

  • They traveled hidden in the baggage car of a train since passengers into the city were inspected.

    Academic text (1999)
  • We counted cars: eleven day coaches, one Pullman ("For the trainmen," I said, though I was only guessing), a diner, and the baggage car.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Meet me in the baggage car.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Say, there was a lot of stuff in the baggage car that might belong to your Count.

  • Adams Express paid almost four hundred dollars a month to rent space in the line's baggage cars.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Must be draughty in the baggage car.

  • What are those conventioneers doing up at the baggage car?

  • The baggage car moved over a level crossing with a lamplit farmhouse nearby.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • "A hobo jumped off the baggage car and took off across the fields without noticing anything."

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The special usually consisted of a locomotive, baggage car, and business car, and operated on a highly publicized schedule.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

railroad car
vsbaggage car
  • US
6 2.5

A vehicle on railway tracks that carries people or goods

is limited to carrying passengers' bags rather than broad cargo or people
railcar
vsbaggage car
  • Specialized
5 3.7

A vehicle that runs on railway tracks to carry people or goods

is narrower, used specifically for transporting passengers' bags
railway car
vsbaggage car
  • UK
1 2.3

A vehicle that runs on tracks and carries people or goods

is specialized for carrying passengers' bags rather than general transport
luggage van
vsbaggage car
  • UK
3.5

A train car that carries passengers' bags

is the same in meaning but uses a different common name
guard's van
vsbaggage car
  • UK
8.8

A carriage at the end of a train where the guard sits and luggage is kept

is focused only on carrying passengers' bags, not on officials or parcels

Surface Forms

baggage car singular
baggage cars plural

Morphology

baggage + car

The meaning 'a railway car used for carrying passengers\' luggage' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'baggage' (passengers' suitcases) with 'car' (rail vehicle); the first noun clearly modifies the second. This noun-noun compounding pattern (X car = a car for X) is common across languages and standard in English, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Baggage car is very literal: it is a car on a train for passengers' baggage, like trunks and suitcases. So, it simply means 'a railway car used for carrying passengers' luggage'.