stagecoach

/ˌsteɪdʒˈkoʊtʃ/

/ˈsteɪdʒkəʊtʃ/

Other forms: stagecoaches

Before trains were invented, you might have taken a stagecoach to your Grandma's house. A stagecoach was a covered carriage pulled by horses.

Once a system of reliable roads was established during the 17th and 18th centuries, travel by stagecoach became common. As roads improved over time, the length of stagecoach journeys became shorter. Still, in 1766 it took two full days to travel by stagecoach from New York to Philadelphia. The invention of railroads in the mid-1800s also meant the end of the stagecoach.

Definitions of stagecoach

1. noun

   a large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and mail on regular routes between towns
   synonyms: stage

   type of:

   coach, coach-and-four, four-in-hand

   a carriage pulled by four horses with one driver