automobile
Americannoun
-
automobiles
plural
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of automobile
1865–70; < French: literally, self-movable (vehicle). See auto- 1, mobile
Explanation
An automobile is a car: a vehicle with four wheels and an internal combustion engine. The automobile is one of the most common ways to travel. Thanks in part to Henry Ford, automobiles are just about everywhere: in cities, small towns, and even in rural areas, where it's too far to walk from place to place and there's very little public transportation. Trucks, vans, buses, and limousines are bigger than the typical automobile, but they’re automobiles, too. A motorcycle isn't an automobile because it only has two wheels. Automobiles are good for getting around, but they also cause pollution and automobile accidents.
Vocabulary lists containing automobile
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: auto-
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Meanwhile, analog-chip names, which mostly serve the automobile and industrial markets, have outperformed the broader sector “as overall AI sentiment has soured,” Rasgon said.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Gasoline prices are up 54%, and automobile insurance and maintenance combined are up about 50%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
She then told a story about driving a carload of children to school one day in an automobile limping along because a tire had been slashed by union opponents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
"We've got to end the Canadian tariff war. It is certainly not helpful to us. It is not helpful to our automobile industry," Rogers said recently.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
I hurried to the shiny black automobile beside which she was standing.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Foreman and his wife, Mary Joan Martelly, designed the Huffman residence to accommodate their growing family and his expanding collection of automobiles.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
The two countries are also expected to discuss potential reductions to U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
On 8,000 acres in Michigan, Ford’s researchers planted 300 soybean varieties and searched for ways to incorporate the harvest into automobiles.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
While car imagery doesn’t predominate on @map_pointz, the scenes that Rosales was involved in couldn’t have happened without automobiles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Similarly, the small birds in the rest areas began to learn that the automobiles and trucks that came roaring in brought with them a wonderful smorgasbord of insects caught and carried in their radiator grilles.
From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
