tow truck

American  

noun

tow trucks plural

1. wrecker.

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tow truck British  

noun

1. Also called: breakdown van.   wrecker.  a motor vehicle equipped for towing away wrecked or disabled cars

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tow trucks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tow truck

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

For a scene where Valentina has an encounter with a tow truck driver, they simply called a tow yard hoping someone interesting would show up.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

The roadside-assistance company Ortego works for pays for gas on the tow truck he was driving Thursday, which now takes $110 to fill up instead of the $70 it cost last month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Then all that’s left is the long, sad ride in the cab of a tow truck.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

“The only way I know it was a tow truck was because of our home cameras. It’s the same strategy, backing up and taking the car in minutes,” Zavala said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026

At the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might’ve been thrown away itself.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan