shopping cart

noun

1

: a metal or plastic cart with four small wheels that is used for holding merchandise when shopping (as at a supermarket or department store)

… about the only amenities besides the jumbo-sized shopping carts are a few flatbed dollies to allow shoppers to get large appliances like refrigerators and washing machines to the cash register and then out to the parking lot.

—Jean Crichton

2

: a temporary record of items selected for eventual purchase from an online vendor's website

To set up shop on the Internet, you need a commerce-enabled Web site, which includes the electronic shopping cart; a connection to the credit card network; and finally, a merchant account …

—Tom Negrino

Delivery charges are the No. 1 reason shoppers abandon a virtual shopping cart, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Every Internet shopper has a shipping-charge horror story.

—Ellen Neuborn

Examples of shopping cart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

According to the company, the feature leverages artificial intelligence to assess items in the shopping cart and calculate the correct duties and taxes. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 26 Mar. 2025

In February, Newsweek reported on how Emily Copeland posted a clip on Reddit, showing her husband smiling nervously before panning to a shopping cart filled with large houseplants, and get 3 million upvotes in the process. —Kevin Sabet, Newsweek, 24 Mar. 2025

The blouse has adorable details like a tie front and ruffle accents, and for 40 percent off, adding it to your shopping cart is an easy decision. —Melony Forcier, Travel + Leisure, 20 Mar. 2025

Nagata’s son, Hiroyuki, is CEO of subsidiary Retail AI, which is in charge of developing the smart shopping carts and AI cameras. —Zinnia Lee, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shopping cart

• counterpart
• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• redstart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart