car
noun
an automobile.
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car
1 American
[kahr]
/ kɑr /
noun
cars
plural
-
an automobile.
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a vehicle running on rails, as a streetcar or railroad car.
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the part of an elevator, balloon, modern airship, etc., that carries the passengers, freight, etc.
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British Dialect. any wheeled vehicle, as a farm cart or wagon.
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Literary. a chariot, as of war or triumph.
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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
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( as modifier )
car coat
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a conveyance for passengers, freight, etc, such as a cable car or the carrier of an airship or balloon
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a railway vehicle for passengers only, such as a sleeping car or buffet car
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a railway carriage or van
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the enclosed platform of a lift
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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:
More broadly, U.S. car buyers have been increasingly interested in more affordable options.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
According to the motion, the government sent intelligence-gathering teams to Home Depots and car washes where “they ran checks until they identified an arbitrary number—typically a small number—of possibly unlawfully present individuals.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The sequel tells you what that omission was worth: It was 2021, nearly a decade after the seizure, before Indiana finally gave up on keeping Timbs’ car.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
As Apple gears up for expected iPhone price hikes, the company is rolling out a new payment option that will let its U.S. users lease devices similar to how they would finance a car.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Then one day a car came down the road past the Ogilvy place.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
Researchers from Columbia University and University Hospital Tübingen have discovered a protein that appears to play a major role in weakening CAR T cells over time.
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 text was all in screaming caps: 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
“I don’t wear expensive designer clothes and I don’t drive a massive car. I know all about what it means to work hard to earn a living.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
“As we improve the software, you can feel the sentience growing in the car. It feels alive.”
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
"The costs are high if we use a car. Also there are not many security checkpoints on the train," said Zeya Ko Ko, 28, a passenger on the Naypyidaw train.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
She turns to me and Suesetta, says, “Go wait in the car. And when you get in, look straight ahead, don’t look out the windows. You understand?”
From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
Outside Aldea del Fresno, on the eastern edge of the vast fires, evacuated locals lined up in cars in the hope of being allowed to returning to properties and pets.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Usually, the drivers are warned about cars coming up to lap them in three ways - a blue-flag indicator on their steering wheel, blue-light panels trackside, and traditional blue flags.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Nonetheless, as cars returned and speeding increased, accidents resumed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Remnants of the old blue laws remain in some American states or localities where regulations place restrictions on the retail sale of alcohol on Sundays or—idiosyncratically—prohibit auto dealers from selling cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
At first I thought our train had not come; then I realized that these freight cars standing on the tracks were for us.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
