caboose [ult. < Du. kabuis (?) kaban-huis wretched hut; influenced in Canadian usage by F cambuse camboose, also apparently < Du. or LG source] The term seems to have come into English in the Dutch maritime sense of "cook's cabin or galley," being extended to denote a stove on a boat, an open fireplace, a heated hut, shanty, mobile bunkhouse, etc. The form cambuse (kã'by:z) has long been current in French Canada in several senses (stove, storage place, bunkhouse on logging trains, etc.). Sense 1 is probably of U.S. origin but may have been influenced by camboose, q.v..
1 † n. a stove, used by voyageurs, explorers, etc.
See also: camboose (def. 1)
2a n. Lumbering, Hist. on a lumber raft, a simple shed, often without walls, having a floor of deep sand and used as a sheltered fireplace for cooking purposes.
2b n. an open fireplace in the living quarters of a lumber camp.
See also: camboose (def. 2)
3 † a railway car equipped as living quarters for a freight-train crew and having a cupola commanding a view of the train, of which it is the end car.
4a n. West a bunk-house, such as used by threshing crews, mounted on wheels in summer and on runners or bobs in winter.
See also: sleeping-caboose
4b n. West a type of dwelling on runners having some of the functions of a modern house-trailer.
See also: van ((n.)) (def. 2) wanigan (def. 4a)
4c n. North a portable house.
5a n. North a bunkhouse and cook-house on bobs, or runners, serving the needs of the crew on a cat-train or other group of vehicles.
See also: bob living wanigan wanigan (def. 4b)
5b n. any enclosed structure on bobs or runners functioning as part of a cat-train, whether for the crew or for perishable freight.
See also: sled (def. 4)
6a n. Obs. a small, dingy bedroom.
6b n. Obs. a small, low-class tavern.
See also: shebang (def. 1)