Historical A vehicle used for the transportation of meat, usually refrigerated and traditionally of a non-motorized type pulled by horses.
The firing of a truck load of meat and two cases of assault enlived the strike of the meat wagon drivers yesterday.1907 August 30, “Non-Union Meat Drivers Attacked—Meat Wagon Burned”, in New York Times, page 2:
He began his career as an itinerant meat wagon driver who sold cut beef to farmers and working-class families along a regular route.2003, Adams Media, Erik Herman, San Francisco Job Bank, →ISBN:
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She tried not to be flattered, knowing this rake could talk a dog off a meat wagon.2008, Georgina Gentry, To Wed A Texan, →ISBN:
So they had to take me from there in an ambulance. . . . I remember my dad and uncle used to call them meat wagons.2003, Ed Masley,"Cynics' Spain tour ends with injury to lead singer," post-gazette.com (Pittsburgh, US), 27 Jan. (retrieved 25 July 2008)
It was a little past ten that night when his nurse, Sylvia of the Bedpans, came tiptoeing in with sleeping pills on a little tray and told him that his friend, Detective Leary, had just been delivered to the emergency room in a meat wagon.2012, Thomas Gifford, Kiss Me Once, →ISBN:
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Most of the time this proved but a temporary respite, and when he was too far gone he went into the meat wagon, at which time he dispossessed the most robust looking of the riders.2015, Jack Dower, Deliverance at Diepholz: A POW's Story, →ISBN:
3
Slang A police van for transporting prisoners; a paddy wagon.
He spent the next four hours in the back of the sweltering NYPD meat wagon as police rounded up other young men.2007 October 30, M. Chris Fabricant, “Runnin' Scared Rousting the Cops”, in Village Voice, retrieved 25 Jul 2008:
In the middle of each night the gendarmerie's meat wagon made its rounds slowly, its crew stopping by the hunched clochard figures who sprawled in rags on the streets and gutters and doorways of Paris.2015, Brian Garfield, Hopscotch, →ISBN:
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I looked over at the man driving the meat wagon in which I was currently a court-required passenger and said, ever the fellow armed with a witty retort: "Huh?"2017, Raymond Benson, Paul Dale Anderson, Brian Hodge, Corruption at the Crossroad:
4
Slang A vehicle for transporting dead bodies; a hearse.
The old man wandered away from his retirement home, dropped dead on the beach and was picked up by the meat wagon and sent to the morgue.2000, Stephen Hunter, "Varicose Vain" (film review of The Crew), Washington Post, 25 Aug., p. C01
“That's my lieutenant,” said Agent Riley runnin' over to the meat wagon to see the body. When Agent Riley made it over to the meat wagon, he popped open the backdoor of the meat wagon to look at the body.2010, Steve E. Wright, Bloodline of a Mafia, →ISBN:
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She had even gone out and seen the body being loaded into the meat wagon.2014, Benjamin Black, The Black Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel, →ISBN:
meat-wagon
noun
› Alternative form of meat wagon.
1
A wagon for transporting meat.
They are not even meat-wagons. They are open trucks, specially fitted up with a roof and sides and seats and windows and lamps.1916, New Zealand Parliament. House of Representatives, Australia Parliament House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, page 250:
Forty years later a similar appeal led to the establishment of a Harlem public market on a site previously "indifferently supplied" by "meat-wagons" that visited on an occasional basis.2006, Roger Horowitz, Putting Meat on the American Table: Taste, Technology, Transformation, →ISBN:
2
An ambulance.
“Flag your diapers over here to the Vocapex studio and bring along a meat-wagon. I'll be waiting for you on Stage Three. Yolande Adaire just got herself opened like a book.”2014, Robert Leslie Bellem, Dan Turner Hollywood Detective, →ISBN:
3
A police vehicle for transporting prisoners.
Sergeant Spola eased himself up from the back seat of his police meat-wagon.2013, Mario Reading, The Antichrist Trilogy, →ISBN:
In the stifling atmosphere of the meat-wagon, Bill attempted conversation with the taciturn guard. 'This will be my third visit to Sing Sing. '2014, David Barry, Willie the Actor, →ISBN:
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First time in a meat-wagon. Gave it out I was at risk. Only time I ever went in a meat-wagon on that, all the other times it was society was at risk. They reckoned.2015, Jeremy Cameron, Vinnie Got Blown Away, →ISBN:
4
A vehicle for transporting the dead.
The professor took pity on him. “Of course, of course. I have no further use for the remains. Inspector?” “Nah, get him out of here.” The meat-wagon boys got busy, and Benedetti went on.2012, William L. DeAndrea, The Hog Murders, →ISBN:
The blood had faded, and the meat-wagons had hauled away the entrails and the amputations, and the souvenir-hunters had long since picked over and pocketed the buttons, the buckles, the odds and ends of battle, but the black guns were still here and their spare rounds still neatly stacked near the limbers, ....2013, John Sanford, A Man Without Shoes, →ISBN:
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To one side, the remaining meat-wagon was operating its mechanical scoop and shovelling the bits and pieces of the Tittering into the refrigerated interior of the morgue vehicle.2015, Stephen Marley, Dread Dominion, →ISBN: