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    Dendril Roots
      van
      noun
      A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.
      (British) An enclosed railway vehicle for transport of goods, such as a boxcar/box van.
      (aerospace) A large towable vehicle equipped for the repair of structures that cannot easily be moved.
      (mining) A shovel used in cleansing ore.
      A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
      A wing with which the air is beaten.
      A diminutive of the female given name Vanessa.
      A diminutive of the male given names Vance, Ivan, or Evan.
      A Van cat.
      A Turkish Van cat.
      A large saline tectonic lake of the Armenian Highland in eastern Turkey, famous for its Chalcalburnus tarichi (syn. Alburnus tarichi) fish and the 10th century Armenian cathedral on Akhtamar Island.
      A province and metropolitan municipality in easternmost Turkey, partly surrounding the lake, with a Kurdish majority.
      A city, the capital of Van Province, Turkey, on the shore of the lake.
      A place in the United States:
      An unincorporated community in Arkansas County, Arkansas.
      An unincorporated community in Polk County, Missouri.
      An unincorporated community in Harney County, Oregon.
      A city in Van Zandt County, Texas.
      An unincorporated community in Lee County, Virginia.
      A census-designated place in Boone County, West Virginia.
      A place in Wales:
      A community and suburb of Caerphilly in Caerphilly borough county borough (OS grid ref ST1686).
      A hamlet in Llanidloes Without community, Powys (OS grid ref SN9587).
      Clipping of vanguard. [(military) The leading units at the front of an army or fleet.]
      Abbreviation of Vancouver. [A surname.]
      Abbreviation of value-added network. [A communications network with additional functions such as error correction, protocol conversion and message storing.]
      (dated) A light wagon, either covered or open, used by tradesmen and others for the transportation of goods.
      verb
      (transitive) To transport in a van or similar vehicle (especially of horses).
      (Internet slang, used in passive voice) Of law enforcement: to arrest (not necessarily in a van; derived from party van).
      (mining) To wash or cleanse, as a small portion of ore, on a shovel.
      Roots
      avantvan- · French · before, front
      Synonyms for van
      caravanntrucknwagonncarnwainndraynflatcarncarriagenboxcarn
      Words related to van
      minivanncamionnlorrynmotortrucknminibusnvehiclenmicrobuspantechniconntruckloadvoituresemitrailernwagonagegharrynjeepnflatbednpickupnsedanncamperntrailernmotorbusnbusnhummernhorseboxnautobusntarantassembuscabnhearsenbussesntruckagen

      Synonyms & related words for van

      Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of van — including caravan, truck, wagon, car, wain, dray. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

      Words related to van

      Explore words related to van — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include minivan, camion, lorry, motortruck, minibus, vehicle, microbus, pantechnicon. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

      Synonyms for van

      Common synonyms for van include caravan, truck, wagon, car, wain, dray, flatcar, carriage — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

      Where does van come from?

      The word van breaks down into one root of French origin: the root van, from French avant (“before, front”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.

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