crate
Americannoun
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crates
plural
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a slatted wooden box or framework for packing, shopping, or storing fruit, furniture, glassware, crockery, etc.
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any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.
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Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, especially an automobile.
They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.
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a quantity, especially of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 foot (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 meters).
a crate of oranges.
verb (used with object)
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crates,
present (3rd person singular)
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crated,
past participle, past
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crating
present participle
noun
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a fairly large container, usually made of wooden slats or wickerwork, used for packing, storing, or transporting goods
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slang an old car, aeroplane, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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cratefulnoun
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craternoun
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recrateverb (used with object)
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uncrateverb (used with object)
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uncratedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cratesimple
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cratessimple
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have cratedperfect
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has cratedperfect
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am cratingprogressive
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are cratingprogressive
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is cratingprogressive
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have been cratingperfect progressive
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has been cratingperfect progressive
Past
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cratedsimple
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had cratedperfect
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was cratingprogressive
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were cratingprogressive
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had been cratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crate
1350–1400; 1915–20 crate for def. 3; Middle English, obscurely akin to Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle
Explanation
A crate is a wooden container that's made for transporting or shipping goods. Your uncle might send you a crate of Florida oranges for a Christmas gift. Boxes made of wood that are filled with goods and loaded on trucks, ships, or planes are called crates, and to fill them is also to crate. Groceries are often shipped or delivered in crates, like crates of eggs, milk crates, or a crate of bananas. The amount of some item that fits in one crate is also called a crate — "The market ordered seven crates of ice cream for the Fourth of July weekend."
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.
See Examples For:
“And sure enough, you see the guy get out of the car and grab a crate with all the power tools in it, and a blower on the way out,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Days after a wall of water and debris ripped through Nepal, Shanti Lamichhane sat on a fruit crate in the dirt where her village once stood, staring at what remained of her home.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
A van served ice creams and a pop-up-shop in an oversize metal crate was selling beers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
It has taken almost two years to plan, including building a special temperature-controlled crate for him, and co-ordinating complex paperwork across two countries.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
I grabbed my crate out of the wagon and put it down, and the kid put the burlap-covered crate in the wagon.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Standing among crates of vegetables at the warehouse, Oscar Ochoa, 65, fumed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
On a Saturday in late September 2025, the 40-year-old mother of four was loading crates of grapes onto a forklift in a Fresno County field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
When the shipping company finally wheels away the crates, Drolma affords herself a smile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Drolma’s team begins packing the best matsutakes into Styrofoam crates, pinching little creased pockets in the packing paper to cushion each mushroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Petey led the way, and everyone followed with their crates now held at arm’s length.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Sloth jaws and sabertooth fangs and a truly astonishing amount of ancient vertebrae — all of it will be swaddled, catalogued and crated for the next two years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
Staged in Philadelphia by Eleonora Gravagnola, it is set in a modern-day art gallery, where a traveling exhibit is being crated up for transfer to its next location.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025
Metal mesh doors can be added so you can close them when your pet needs to be crated.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
At first, Ms. Sheridan crated Nala and left the apartment for a while each day to prepare the dog for their imminent separation.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2022
“I suggest you keep her crated when she’s left alone, at least initially,” Dinah said.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
The workers were responsible for capturing and crating turkeys destined for slaughter, Pennsylvania State Police said Thursday.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
DeJoy, 63, built a fortune by turning a small trucking company into a logistics giant that profited by warehousing and crating cargo and mail for delivery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2020
One theory holds that reducing stimuli at night might work, but she wasn’t sold on the idea of crating him in the dark for hours.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 19, 2018
He said he would be bagging, crating and locking his eastern diamondback rattlesnakes inside his breeding facility.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2017
I drew out a design for an A-frame signboard that the boys and I could build with crating scraps and place in front of the store.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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