trainer
Americannoun
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a person or thing that trains.
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a staff member on an athletic team who gives first aid and therapy to injured players.
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a person who trains athletes; coach.
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a person who trains racehorses or other animals for contests, shows, or performances.
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an airplane or a simulated aircraft used in training aircrew members, especially pilots.
noun
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a person who trains athletes in a sport
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a piece of equipment employed in training, such as a simulated aircraft cockpit
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horse racing a person who schools racehorses and prepares them for racing
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(plural) an informal name for training shoes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of trainer
Explanation
A trainer is someone who teaches or coaches someone, like the trainer at the gym who promises that she'll have you ready to run a marathon in four months. Some trainers can teach you how to do sit ups, while others can instruct you to program a computer or be an effective leader. Dog trainers teach dogs to follow commands — and they teach dog owners to give commands effectively. The noun trainer comes from the verb train, "to discipline or teach," from an earlier sense, "to manipulate to bring a desired form," the way a gardener trains a rose to grow up a trellis.
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:
Andrea Wallace, a 24-year-old personal trainer in Austin, Texas, says bot-generated messages are appearing more in chats with romantic partners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Umberto did a good job of getting him to recover and his class won out,” winning trainer Michael McCarthy said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Christina Bluhme, a dog trainer from Esher in Surrey, was halfway up the UK's highest mountain when her black Labrador Tokyo collapsed on the trail.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The dog trainer said they are often people-orientated and want to please, so there is no need to use any excessive force or underhand training methods.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
No gym in New York City would hire an unlicensed trainer.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Prepubescent athletes have personal trainers, agents and cutthroat recruiting plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Segun was last seen wearing a black jacket, black trousers and black trainers, and is believed to have links to Plumstead, Abbey Wood and Woolwich.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Wearing pink trainers, yellow socks and a beige-and-brown uniform, Ndom trained with a team of boys who arrived in the Canaries as unaccompanied minors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
Pletcher said a declining foal crop has led to fewer races, which means trainers have fewer opportunities to take the traditional step from maiden race to allowance race to stakes race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Within minutes, the house was full of men in jeans and trainers, carrying cables, cameras, light stands, microphones.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
