smoke wagon

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

smoke wagon (plural smoke wagons)

1. (US, slang, archaic) A handgun, especially a revolver.
   • 1926, Nicholas Klein, “Hobo Lingo”, in American Speech, volume 1, number 12, pages 650–653:

     The following list of hobo words, presented in glossary form, was collected by me during twenty years of experience with hobo cases in my profession of attorney-at-law. . . . Smoke wagon—pistol.

   • 1950, C. Merton Babcock, “The Vocabulary of Social Life on the American Frontier”, in Western Folklore, volume 9, number 2, page 138:

     Familiar epithets for the revolver were equalizer, shootin' iron . . . smoke wagon.

   • 1993, Kevin Jarre, Tombstone (film script):

     Wyatt (Kurt Russell): Go ahead. Skin it. Skin that smoke wagon and see what happens. . . . I'm getting tired of your gas. Jerk that pistol and go to work.