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Synonyms

car

1 American  
[kahr] / kɑr /

noun

  1. an automobile.

  2. a vehicle running on rails, as a streetcar or railroad car.

  3. the part of an elevator, balloon, modern airship, etc., that carries the passengers, freight, etc.

  4. British Dialect. any wheeled vehicle, as a farm cart or wagon.

  5. Literary. a chariot, as of war or triumph.

  6. Archaic. cart; carriage.

car 2 American  
[kahr] / kɑr /

adjective

Chiefly Scot.

  1. left-handed.

  2. sinister.

CAR 3 American  

  1. computer-assisted retrieval.

car. 4 American  

abbreviation

  1. carat; carats.

car 1 British  
/ kɑː /

noun

    1. 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

    2. ( as modifier )

      car coat

  2. a conveyance for passengers, freight, etc, such as a cable car or the carrier of an airship or balloon

  3. a railway vehicle for passengers only, such as a sleeping car or buffet car

  4. a railway carriage or van

  5. the enclosed platform of a lift

  6. a poetic word for chariot

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
CAR 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. compound annual return

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

  • carless adjective

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

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.

He ran back to the car, but as he was about to jump in a wave of water hit him and he fell.

From The Wall Street Journal

Now the war in Iran has driven gas prices up so sharply that EV enthusiasts are daring to wonder whether U.S. car buyers are willing to give the vehicles another look.

From The Wall Street Journal

The exact amount for your vehicle excise duty will depend on the year your car was registered.

From BBC

When I came into the league, all I wanted to do was win championships and get millions of bucks, get that next contract, get them cars.

From Los Angeles Times

Golf superstar Tiger Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing radio channels before his car crash last Friday, according to an accident report released by police Tuesday.

From Barron's

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.