tractor

[ trak-ter ]

noun
  1. a powerful motor-driven vehicle with large, heavy treads, used for pulling farm machinery, other vehicles, etc.

  2. Also called truck tractor. a short truck with a driver's cab but no body, designed for hauling a trailer or semitrailer.

  1. something used for drawing or pulling.

  2. Aeronautics.

    • a propeller mounted at the front of an airplane, thus exerting a pull.

    • Also called tractor airplane. an airplane with a propeller so mounted.

Origin of tractor

1
1855–60; <Latin trac-, variant stem of trahere to draw, pull + -tor-tor

Words Nearby tractor

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How to use tractor in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tractor

tractor

/ (ˈtræktə) /


noun
  1. a motor vehicle used to pull heavy loads, esp farm machinery such as a plough or harvester. It usually has two large rear wheels with deeply treaded tyres

  2. a short motor vehicle with a powerful engine and a driver's cab, used to pull a trailer, as in an articulated lorry

  1. an aircraft with its propeller or propellers mounted in front of the engine

Origin of tractor

1
C18: from Late Latin: one who pulls, from trahere to drag

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012