car

1 of 2

noun

ˈkär 

 dialectal also  ˈkȯr,

ˈkyär

1

: a vehicle moving on wheels: such as

a

archaic : carriage, chariot

b

: a vehicle designed to move on rails (as of a railroad)

The train has 20 cars.

c

: automobile

traveled to Boston by car

2

: the passenger compartment of an elevator

3

: the part of an airship or balloon that carries the passengers and cargo

CAR

2 of 2

abbreviation

civil air regulations

Synonyms

Noun

• auto
• automobile
• bus
• horseless carriage
• machine
• motor
• motorcar
• motor vehicle
• wheels [slang]

Examples of car in a Sentence

Noun

I'll wait in the car.

He got into the car and drove away.

She bought a new car.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Hunter Schafer lost her passport while filming in Barcelona last year when her bag was stolen in a car break-in. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2025

With Trump threatening 25% taxes on car imports, Tokyo is realizing that the debris field will be much wider than just how much tariffs slam China. —William Pesek, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025

Trump has also publicly admired Woods' ability to overcome challenges, including injuries and his high-profile car accident. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 2025

There’d be better buses, better public transportation and a whole car lane could just be for just bikes. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English carre "cart, wagon, small cartload," borrowed from Anglo-French carre, charre, going back to Late Latin carra, plural of carrum "vehicle, cart," going back to Latin, neuter variant of carrus "a kind of Gaulish wagon," borrowed from the Gaulish outcome of Celtic *kr̥s-o-, whence also Old Irish carr "cart, wagon," Welsh car "vehicle" — more at current entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing car

• bar car
• buffet car
• bumper car
• by car
• cabin car
• cable car
• car bomb
• car boot sale
• car coat
• car park
• car pool
• car seat
• car wash
• chair car
• club car
• command car
• company car
• concept car
• dining car
• estate car
• freight car
• funny car
• getaway car
• grand touring car
• Indy car
• jaunting car
• lounge car
• motor car
• multistorey car park
• muscle car
• pace car
• panda car
• parlor car
• passenger car
• patrol car
• police car
• prowl car
• put the car in/into gear
• race car
• racing car
• radio car
• rent-a-car
• restaurant car
• scout car
• sleeping car
• slot car
• sports car
• sprint car
• squad car
• stock car
• tank car
• touring car
• town car

Kids Definition

car

noun

ˈkär 

1

: a vehicle (as an automobile or part of a passenger train) moving on wheels

2

: the passenger compartment of an elevator

3

: the part of a balloon or an airship that carries the passengers and equipment