truck

¹

[truhk]

noun

1. any of various forms of vehicle for carrying goods and materials, usually consisting of a single self-propelled unit but also often composed of a trailer vehicle hauled by a tractor unit.

2. any of various wheeled frames used for transporting heavy objects.

3. Also called hand truck. a barrowlike frame with low wheels, a ledge at the bottom, and handles at the top, used to move heavy luggage, packages, cartons, etc.

4. a low, rectangular frame on which heavy boxes, crates, trunks, etc., are moved; a dolly.

5. a tiered framework on casters.

6. a group of two or more pairs of wheels in one frame, for supporting one end of a railroad car, locomotive, etc.

7. Movies.,  a dolly on which a camera is mounted.

8. British.,  a freight car having no top.

9. a small wooden wheel, cylinder, or roller, as on certain old-style gun carriages.

10. Nautical.,  a circular or square piece of wood fixed on the head of a mast or the top of a flagstaff, usually containing small holes for signal halyards.

verb (used with object)

1. to transport by truck.

2. to put on a truck.

3. Movies.,  dolly.

verb (used without object)

1. to convey articles or goods on a truck.

2. to drive a truck.

3. Movies.,  dolly.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or for a truck or trucks.

   a truck drive; truck tires.

truck

²

[truhk]

noun

1. vegetables raised for the market.

2. miscellaneous articles of little worth; odds and ends.

3. Informal.,  trash or rubbish.

   That's a lot of truck.

4. Informal.,  dealings.

   I'll have no truck with him.

5. barter.

6. a bargain or deal.

7. the payment of wages in goods instead of money.

8. truck system.

verb (used with object)

1. to exchange; barter; trade.

verb (used without object)

1. to exchange commodities; barter.

2. to traffic; have dealings.

truck

³

[truhk]

noun

1. a shuffling jitterbug step.

verb (used without object)

1. to dance with such steps.

2. Slang.,  to walk or stroll, especially in a jaunty manner.

   trucking down the avenue on a Sunday afternoon.

truck

¹

/ trʌk /

noun

1. a vehicle for carrying freight on a railway; wagon

2. Also called (esp in Britain): lorry. a large motor vehicle designed to carry heavy loads, esp one with a flat platform

3. a frame carrying two or more pairs of wheels and usually springs and brakes, attached under an end of a railway coach, etc

4. nautical

   1. a disc-shaped block fixed to the head of a mast having sheave holes for receiving signal halyards

   2. the head of a mast itself

5. any wheeled vehicle used to move goods

verb

1. to convey (goods) in a truck

2. (intr) to drive a truck

truck

²

/ trʌk /

noun

1. commercial goods

2. dealings (esp in the phrase have no truck with )

3. commercial exchange

4. archaic,  payment of wages in kind

5. miscellaneous articles

6. informal,  rubbish

7. vegetables grown for market

verb

1. archaic,  to exchange (goods); barter

2. (intr) to traffic or negotiate

Other Word Forms

• truckable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of truck¹

First recorded in 1605–15; back formation from truckle “wheel”; truckle

Origin of truck²

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English truken, trukien “to exchange,” from Old French troquer, trochier “to exchange” and Medieval Latin trocāre “to barter”; further origin unknown

Origin of truck³

First recorded in 1935–40; special use of truck ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of truck¹

C17: perhaps shortened from _truckle ²

Origin of truck²

C13: from Old French troquer (unattested) to barter, equivalent to Medieval Latin trocare , of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases

see have no truck with.

Example Sentences

The call didn’t go in for tanker trucks and when these arrived, there was no one to escort them.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They saw people going in and out, carrying boxes out of the house onto a flatbed truck as though they were “sanitizing a crime scene,” the family’s lawsuit says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Dozens of Afghan trucks were stranded with rotting produce when the frontier shut on October 12 due to deadly cross-border fire, which was followed by a fragile truce.

Read more on Barron's

Funk allegedly fled the scene in a white GMC truck, officials said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The action spectacular of the year stars a 66-year-old man in a speeding truck.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• car 
• crate 
• freighter 
• jeep 
• lorry 
• pickup 
• rig 
• van 
• wagon