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• carrier
  carrier

  noun

  a person or thing that carries.
• Carrier
  Carrier

  noun

  a member of an Athapaskan Native North American people of British Columbia

carrier

American  

[kar-ee-er] / ˈkær i ər /

noun

• carriers
  plural

1. a person or thing that carries.

2. an employee of the post office who carries mail.

3. a person who delivers newspapers, magazines, etc., on a particular route.

4. Transportation.

   1. an individual or company, as a railroad or steamship line, engaged in transporting passengers or goods for profit.

   2. common carrier.

5. Insurance. a company that acts or functions as an underwriter or insurer.

6. a frame, usually of metal, attached to a vehicle for carrying skis, luggage, etc., as on top of an automobile or station wagon; rack.

7. aircraft carrier.

8. Immunology. an individual harboring specific pathogenic organisms who, though often immune to the agent harbored, may transmit the disease to others.

9. Genetics.

   1. an individual possessing an unexpressed, recessive trait.

   2. the bearer of a defective gene.

10. Also called carrier wave.  Radio. the wave whose amplitude, frequency, or phase is to be varied or modulated to transmit a signal.

11. Machinery. a mechanism by which something is carried or moved.

12. Chemistry. a catalytic agent that brings about a transfer of an element or group of atoms from one compound to another.

13. Also called charge carrier.  Physics. any of the mobile electrons or holes in a metal or semiconductor that enable it to conduct electrical charge.

14. Physical Chemistry. a usually inactive substance that acts as a vehicle for an active substance.

15. carrier pigeon.

16. Painting. base.

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Carrier ¹ British  

/ ˈkærɪə /

noun

1. a member of an Athapaskan Native North American people of British Columbia

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carrier ² British  

/ ˈkærɪə /

noun

1. a person, thing, or organization employed to carry goods, passengers, etc

2. a mechanism by which something is carried or moved, such as a device for transmitting rotation from the faceplate of a lathe to the workpiece

3. pathol another name for vector

4. pathol a person or animal that, without having any symptoms of a disease, is capable of transmitting it to others

5. Also called: charge carrier.  physics an electron, ion, or hole that carries the charge in a conductor or semiconductor

6. short for carrier wave

7. chem

   1. the inert solid on which a dyestuff is adsorbed in forming a lake

   2. a substance, such as kieselguhr or asbestos, used to support a catalyst

   3. an inactive substance containing a radioisotope used in radioactive tracing

   4. an inert gas used to transport the sample through a gas-chromatography column

   5. a catalyst that effects the transfer of an atom or group from one molecule to another

8. See aircraft carrier

9. a breed of domestic fancy pigeon having a large walnut-shaped wattle over the beak; a distinct variety of pigeon from the homing or carrier pigeon See also carrier pigeon

10. a US name for roof rack

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carrier Scientific  

/ kăr′ē-ər /

1. A person, animal, or plant that serves as a host for a pathogen and can transmit it to others, but is immune to it. Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria.

2. An organism that carries a gene for a trait but does not show the trait itself. Carriers can produce offspring that express the trait by mating with another carrier of the same gene.

3. See more at recessive

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intercarrier
  noun
• noncarrier
  noun
• supercarrier
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• carriers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of carrier

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at carry, -er ¹

Explanation

In medicine, a person is a carrier if they test positive for a pathogen or a genetic defect without showing any symptoms. This person can unwittingly spread the illness to others without ever knowing he or she is the source. If your job involves carrying things or people, you work as a carrier. If you deliver newspapers, you are a newspaper carrier. If the job is to transport household items or people, your business is as a common carrier, such as a moving company or an airline. But if you deliver aircraft, you are not an aircraft carrier — that would be a large, flat-decked, military ship where planes can land or take off at sea.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carrier Carrier carriers

Most recently, the war is pulling away a key American warship, as the Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington heads toward the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The USS George Washington, the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, is being pulled from the western Pacific and sent toward the Middle East to replace the Lincoln.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

British budget carrier easyJet has called off about 100 flights out of French airports on Saturday and Sunday because of a strike by cabin crew furious over repeated changes to their schedules.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

A US aircraft carrier is headed to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, on which thousands of sailors have reportedly faced food shortages and difficult conditions on an extended, nine-month deployment.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

A guy emerges from around the corner, two plates clutched in one hand and a cardboard drink carrier in the other.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

“The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is a strong team of high-achieving Americans standing tall with immense, justified pride in everything they accomplished,” Cooper said in a statement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The UK's Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed off Iceland under Nato command, with 1,500 British personnel on board.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

The Air Carrier Access Act prohibits commercial airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

Whether that’s what happened on Wednesday with Carrier and Lennox shares, he said, there are too many variables to make a direct connection.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026

The air-conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

After visiting the vessel on Saturday, Adm Brad Cooper said it had "among the lowest number of cases related to mental health" out of 11 active US aircraft carriers.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

"Not only are the carriers suffering, but also the industries that depend on the goods they transport," Wens said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

"The door was blocked by cat carriers and the smell of faeces and ammonia was overwhelming," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

A surge in car exports from China is outstripping the capacity of the global shipping industry, booking out specialized car carriers years ahead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Only thirty-six inches separates the wires from the tallest freight cars, the auto carriers.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• aircraft carrier
• warship