Caboose

Quick meaning: Caboose is a noun meaning (US, rail transport) The last car on a freight train, consisting of cooking and sleeping facilities for the crew; a guard’s van.

Meaning

(US, rail transport) The last car on a freight train, consisting of cooking and sleeping facilities for the crew; a guard’s van.

More Meanings

1. (informal, often in combination) A youngest child who is born after a long gap in time.
2. (obsolete, nautical) A small galley or cookhouse on the deck of a small vessel.
3. (historical, nautical) A small sand-filled container used as an oven on board ship.
4. (slang, childish, euphemistic) The buttocks.
5. (slang, sports) The person or team in last place.

Example Sentences

That's a pretty big caboose for a baby.

"Caboose" children, the late-born last offspring in the family, didn't suffer from this as much.

Jimmy was seven and had just finished first grade, so that made Nancy our caboose baby — our bonus child — our swan song.

The kitchens were kept separate because cooking was done in a caboose, a wooden box filled with sand and heated by a wood fire.

Word Forms

• cabooses
• cabeese
• caboosen

Synonyms for caboose

Depending on context, synonyms include galley, cookhouse.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include galley, cookhouse, boxcar, railcar, carload, car.

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