Definition of "caboose" [ca•boose]

• The last car on a freight train, having kitchen and sleeping facilities for the train crew. (noun)
• Obsolete A ship's galley. (noun)
• Obsolete Any of various cast-iron cooking ranges used in such galleys during the early 19th century. (noun)
• Obsolete An outdoor oven or fireplace. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It is useful to point out the desired behavior in other children-"See how nicely that boy is playing with others"-but parents should refrain from adding what he calls the "caboose"-a phrase like "Why can't you do that?""
• "It is useful to point out the desired behavior in other children—"See how nicely that boy is playing with others"—but parents should refrain from adding what he calls the "caboose"—a phrase like "Why can't you do that?""
• "And, sure enough, across the street was a bright red train caboose sitting on its own bit of track with nothing around it, carefully set up so that a child could climb up and play on the outside parts."