tractor

American  

[trak-ter] / ˈtræk tər /

noun

• tractors
  plural

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.

3. something used for drawing or pulling.

4. Aeronautics.

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

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

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tractor British  

/ 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

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tractors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tractor

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

Explanation

A tractor is a vehicle that's used on a farm or work site, often to pull a trailer or other equipment. A farmer might use a tractor to pull a plow through her corn field before planting. Tractors typically have two large wheels in back, and smaller wheels in front. The cab of a tractor, where the driver sits, is sometimes open at the sides. When tractors were first used in farm work, they replaced horses and other large animals once commonly used to pull plows and move heavy equipment. The original meaning of tractor was "something that pulls," while in Modern Latin it means "that which draws," from trahere, "to pull or draw."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tractor tractors

There is also a separate building on the property designed to “house ranch equipment such as a tractor and ATVs,” as well as a horse stable and office.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

"An AI-assisted camera can distinguish with almost total certainty between smoke and dust thrown up by a tractor in a field, for example."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Not every death involving ICE is a shooting, either; according to the Miami Herald, a man fleeing immigration agents was accidentally hit and killed by a tractor trailer in St. Augustine, Florida, this morning.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

Won, the sales consultant, sometimes listens to a work-related podcast while riding his lawn tractor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Inside, I saw the tractor and something else with wheels that none of us are sure what it is, not even Mom, and more of Great-Uncle Jim’s junk that’s metal.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones

Military helicopters backed by tractors on the ground hauled water Sunday to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which mushroomed in size since breaking out two days earlier in a hard-to-access nature reserve.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Daniel Pardoe, of Iverley Park Farm, said: "There was about eight of us in total with various tractors and sprayers."

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

But the real pain in markets lies in the products refined from crude oil, including the gasoline and diesel that power cars, trucks, tractors and jets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Farmers in tractors tugged water cisterns and aimed hoses at the blaze.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

Out front was a line of loaders and tractors waiting to be repaired.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel