car
noun
an automobile.
car
1 American
[kahr]
/ kɑr /
noun
-
cars
plural
-
an automobile.
-
a vehicle running on rails, as a streetcar or railroad car.
-
the part of an elevator, balloon, modern airship, etc., that carries the passengers, freight, etc.
-
British Dialect. any wheeled vehicle, as a farm cart or wagon.
-
Literary. a chariot, as of war or triumph.
-
Archaic. cart; carriage.
car
2
American
[kahr]
/ kɑr /
CAR
3
American
car.
4
American
abbreviation
car
1
British
/ kɑː /
noun
-
-
Also called: motorcar. automobile. a self-propelled road vehicle designed to carry passengers, esp one with four wheels that is powered by an internal-combustion engine
-
( as modifier )
car coat
-
-
a conveyance for passengers, freight, etc, such as a cable car or the carrier of an airship or balloon
-
a railway vehicle for passengers only, such as a sleeping car or buffet car
-
a railway carriage or van
-
the enclosed platform of a lift
-
a poetic word for chariot
CAR
2
British
abbreviation
Usage
What else does car mean? To most of us on the outside, a car is a vehicle with a motor and four wheels. But in prison slang, your car is your crew, especially when it comes to drugs, protection, and money-making.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of car1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English carre, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin carra (feminine singular), from Latin, neuter plural of carrum, variant of carrus “baggage cart, freight wagon,” from Gaulish; akin to Old Irish carr “wheeled vehicle”
Origin of car2
First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English ( Scots ), from Scots Gaelic ceàrr “false, left, wrong”
Origin of CAR3
First recorded in 1980–85
Explanation
Your car is your automobile, your wheels, your vehicle. A car can also be another kind of moving compartment — such as a railroad car, a cable car, or a trolley car. The word car has been around much longer than the automobile. It comes from the Latin carrus, a kind of wagon the Romans discovered from the Gauls, a European people the Romans conquered. It shows up in Italian and Spanish (carro, meaning "a car or a cart," and it also survives in various forms in modern Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, German, and other languages. When you’re listening to your engine purr, you can thank the Gauls. And the Romans.
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:
If it was a car, it’d have only one gear, and I have some thoughts about the costs of that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Ferrari’s first ever electric car sells for a record.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Ferraris often attract some of the highest prices at car auctions.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The vehicle the teenage boys were in was travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway when it hit the second car.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Pieces of songs jump from open car windows, the Doppler effect playing with words and beats.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
His alleged misconduct comes as France and the CAR are working to improve their bilateral relationship which had been strained in the past.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
He used his remission to promote CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically alters one’s cells to fight cancer, after he said chemotherapy stopped working.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Avis Budget’s CAR 5.14%increase; green up pointing triangle wild ride this year just took another unusual turn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
When the researchers removed NFIL3, the CAR T cells stayed active for longer periods, multiplied more efficiently, and maintained stronger anti-tumor effects.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026
The message buzzed in: what part of CAR COMING!
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
“They went the next day and got the car. There was no contract, no paper,” Ma said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“As we improve the software, you can feel the sentience growing in the car. It feels alive.”
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
"It has become so expensive that an average person can no longer afford fuel for a motorcycle or a car. Fuel prices are also affecting electricity bills, leading to further increases," he says.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
“It just feels like a nicely optioned, loaded car. The tech is fantastic,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
“I think the conductor passed along once,” he said, “coming from the direction of the dining car. And a woman passed the other way, going towards it.”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
There are some 14,000 hydrogen cars registered in California, and that number declined for the first time last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The company is most known for its camera network, which extracts data about cars from photographs and allows operators to search for vehicles by description or license plate number.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Videos on social media show cars submerged in Geoje as strong currents swept the streets.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
At OpenRoad Insurance, which also specializes in classic cars, 40.3% of the insured vehicles were built since 1980, according to Chief Marketing Officer Bryan Ballatore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
I fly past cars, past boats on the canal, past farmers in their fields.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
