van — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.

   Synonyms

   minivanminibus

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   While Santa Monica has a longstanding prohibition against public camping that includes living in vehicles, the van rental business has been a problem in Venice for years. […] Organizations that provide safe parking locations have limited capacity and are often unable to accommodate the kind of non-operational vans that are being repurposed as makeshift housing.

   Carbon emissions from vans in the UK have risen by 63% since 1990, new analysis shows, as cars are getting cleaner. While more people are opting to drive electric or plug-in hybrid cars, van drivers still prefer diesel because electric vans are much more expensive with little choice of models.

2. An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.

   Usage

   • UK usage

3. A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.

   Usage

   • Dated

4. A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Designed to be fully mobile and self-contained, the complete equipment includes an air-conditioned van containing all necessary electronic gear and a flat bed trailer in which missiles, jet engines and other large assemblies may be cleaned.

Verb

1. To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   I have to have a license to own them, a license to train them, my jockey has to have a license to ride them, the van company must have a license to van them, and the black shoe man must have a license to shoe them.

   [They] had their own horses, but they hadn't bothered to van them over to Pine Hollow for this outing.

2. Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van).

   Usage

   • Internet
   • used in passive voice

   Examples

   More examples (5)

   One Anon explained the reason for this, saying: "As for the domains, they were transferred to Ryan after some of us got vanned so he can keep the network up. What he did certainly wasn't the plan." (Getting "vanned" refers to getting picked up by the police.)

   He later told CW that he had been "v&" or "vanned" by the police, and he expressed surprise that the police showed him detailed transcripts of his conversations.

   But not before someone supposedly forwarded all the information onto the FBI. In a last-ditch effort to avoid getting "vanned," Naratto tried to put the memie back in the bottle

   2015 13-year-old credited with hacking CIA director’s AOL account gives bizarre, possibly final interview The hacker says he thinks he is about to be v&, or “vanned,” meaning being raided by law enforcement, sometime soon.

   On Wednesday night, Motherboard spoke to the teenager accused of being Cracka. "I got fucking v&," he told Motherboard, using "v&," the slang for "vanned," or getting arrested. (At this point, the arrest had not been made public.)

   Commander X: Yep, so now you all know how I got vanned. And you just met the snitch who did it to me.

Noun

1. A shovel used in cleansing ore.

Verb

1. To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.

Noun

1. A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.

   Examples

   with strange amaze / A shepherd meeting thee, the oar surveys, / And names a van (Book XI)

2. A wing with which the air is beaten.

   Examples

   So Satan fell; and ſtrait a fiery Globe / Of Angels on full ſail of wing flew nigh, / Who on their plumy Vans receiv'd him ſoft […]

   He wheeled in air, and stretched his vans in vain; / His vans no longer could his flight sustain.

   More examples (1)

   Because these wings are no longer wings to fly / But merely vans to beat the air[…]

Noun

1. any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)

   Synonyms

   avant-gardevanguardnew wave

   Broader terms

   artistic movementart movement

2. the leading units moving at the head of an army

   Synonyms

   vanguard

   Broader terms

   army unit

3. (Great Britain) a closed railroad car that carries baggage or freight

   Broader terms

   carrailcarrailway carrailroad car

4. a camper equipped with living quarters

   Synonyms

   caravan

   Broader terms

   campercamping busmotor home

5. a truck with an enclosed cargo space

   Broader terms

   truckmotortruck