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:
Joshua was fighting for the first time since surviving the car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
"The shared objective is to strengthen the competitiveness of the sports car manufacturer and secure as many jobs as possible in the long term," the company said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Once, someone laid down a broken door, which they had stored in their basement, underneath a car.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Erfani arrived by car shortly after, parked and walked into the alleyway.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“It sounded like a car that wouldn’t start. Probably means the road is over that way.”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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
"Switching off NFIL3 could be a decisive step toward significantly improving the long-term potency of CAR T cells," explains Prof. Feucht.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026
Citing REA Group, WiseTech, CAR Group, Xero and Pro Medicus as their key picks, the analysts highlight proprietary data, integrations and network effects as important differentiators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 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 was over £10,000 of damage. It was a brand new car. We only had it for about three weeks," she says.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
“I view myself as an average Joe. I don’t have to have a fancy car. I don’t have to have the greatest TV,” said Shilling, who is 58.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
“That’s what Grandma called it back in the car. I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means,” I admit.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
I now use vision models, the same technology that powers driverless cars, and I work with sovereign wealth funds on systematic signals for commodities trading.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
She volunteered to walk them out to their cars, using her white body as a kind of shield.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The author recalls how the “astonishing numbers of people who got in their cars, crawled through traffic, sat in massive crowds, cheered and bought some campaign swag” proved something unique was going on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Three fire engines and two fire service cars were destroyed in the blaze.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
At the high school, students were pulling up in their own cars.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
