tractor

American  

[trak-ter] / ˈtræk tər /

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.

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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Etymology

Origin of tractor

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

Example Sentences

“We have a $100,000 tractor that hasn’t moved in three or four months because we don’t know if we can afford to fix it,” Orth said.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 2021, the government abandoned plans to reform the sector after months of intense protests that blocked the national capital's highways and led to Delhi's historic Red Fort complex being stormed by tractors.

From Barron's

A tractor pulled away from what was once a house.

From BBC

Cal Fire will examine the Ventura County Fire Department’s response to a small wildfire that subsequently rekindled from the charred skeleton of a tractor — eventually growing into the destructive Mountain fire.

From Los Angeles Times

It was like a lamb helping up a tractor.

From Literature