clown car

Meanings

1. A circus clown routine in which an implausibly large number of clowns climb into or out of a small car.
2. The undersized car used in a circus clown car routine.
3. A very small car.
4. A car or small enclosed space with too many people or things in it.
5. Any process with a comically large number of participants, especially participants who themselves are comical or ridiculous.
6. A car for clowns, especially the car of a circus train that carries the clowns.
7. A car that looks gaudy or otherwise ridiculous.

Etymology

From a comedy routine first invented by the Cole Brothers Circus during the 1950s.