transportation
Americannoun
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the act of transporting.
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the state of being transported.
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the means of transport or conveyance.
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the business of conveying people, goods, etc.
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price of travel or transport by public conveyance; fare.
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tickets or permits for transport or travel.
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banishment, as of a criminal to a penal colony; deportation.
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Also called Transportation Department. (initial capital letter) the Department of Transportation.
noun
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a means or system of transporting
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the act of transporting or the state of being transported
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(esp formerly) deportation to a penal colony
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a ticket or fare
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of transportation
Explanation
If you spend $60 a month on subway fare, then your monthly transportation cost is $60, meaning it costs you $60 each month to get from one place to another. The noun transportation often is used to describe the process of moving things. You might make transportation arrangements, for example, for shipping a pet across the country. Transportation can also refer to a formal system for moving things from place to place, like a public transportation system like the subway or public bus or a transportation company that specializes in moving goods from coast to coast.
Vocabulary lists containing transportation
The United States
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Africa - Introductory
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Canada - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For now, energy prices appear to be most clearly filtering through to transportation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
And some promising funds are investing farther afield—in transportation, water, and more.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
The Logistics Managers’ Index, a monthly survey of supply-chain managers, showed transportation prices increased in May at the fastest rate for any metric in the report’s 10-year history.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
His transportation and health secretaries have flown to Mindanao from the capital Manila to oversee the response.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Mama was in no shape for public transportation, and I felt rather shaky myself.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
