VAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does van mean? 

• VAN (noun)
  The noun VAN has 5 senses:

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

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

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

4. a camper equipped with living quarters

5. a truck with an enclosed cargo space

  Familiarity information: VAN used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

avant-garde; new wave; van; vanguard

Hypernyms ("van" is a kind of...):

art movement; artistic movement (a group of artists who agree on general principles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The leading units moving at the head of an army

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

van; vanguard

Hypernyms ("van" is a kind of...):

army unit (a military unit that is part of an army)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("van" is a kind of...):

car; railcar; railroad car; railway car (a wheeled vehicle adapted to the rails of railroad)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A camper equipped with living quarters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

caravan; van

Hypernyms ("van" is a kind of...):

camper; camping bus; motor home (a recreational vehicle equipped for camping out while traveling)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A truck with an enclosed cargo space

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("van" is a kind of...):

motortruck; truck (an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "van"):

bookmobile (a van with shelves of books; serves as a mobile library or bookstore)

delivery truck; delivery van; panel truck (a van suitable for delivering goods or services to customers)

laundry truck (van that picks up and delivers laundry)

milk float (a van (typically powered by electricity) with an open side that is used to deliver milk to houses)

moving van (a van used for moving home or office furniture)

passenger van (a van that carries passengers)

black Maria; paddy wagon; patrol wagon; police van; police wagon; wagon (van used by police to transport prisoners)

 Context examples 

Van Helsing returned in a couple of hours, and presently said to me: Now you go home, and eat much and drink enough.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square furniture van.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was standing there, wondering what I should do next, when a covered van drove up with two men in it.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and was gone in an instant.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the van of the gipsies who camped on the moor.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Wouters H, van Gool WA, Schmand B, Lindeboom R. Revising the ADAS-cog for a more accurate assessment of cognitive impairment.

(Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive CDISC Version Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

Professor Challenger, who with the two local Indians was in the van of the party, stopped suddenly and pointed excitedly to the right.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sold it was, however, and carried away in a van; except the bed, a few chairs, and the kitchen table.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mutation of the gene is associated with van der Woude syndrome and popliteal pterygium syndrome and genetic variation is a factor in orofacial cleft type 6.

(IRF6 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Miss Ingram rose solemnly: "I go first," she said, in a tone which might have befitted the leader of a forlorn hope, mounting a breach in the van of his men.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)