carrier

[kar-ee-er]

noun

1. a person or thing that carries.

2. an employee of the post office who carries mail.

3. a person who delivers newspapers, magazines, etc., on a particular route.

4. Transportation.

   1. an individual or company, as a railroad or steamship line, engaged in transporting passengers or goods for profit.

   2. common carrier.

5. Insurance.,  a company that acts or functions as an underwriter or insurer.

6. a frame, usually of metal, attached to a vehicle for carrying skis, luggage, etc., as on top of an automobile or station wagon; rack.

7. aircraft carrier.

8. Immunology.,  an individual harboring specific pathogenic organisms who, though often immune to the agent harbored, may transmit the disease to others.

9. Genetics.

   1. an individual possessing an unexpressed, recessive trait.

   2. the bearer of a defective gene.

10. Also called carrier wave. Radio.,  the wave whose amplitude, frequency, or phase is to be varied or modulated to transmit a signal.

11. Machinery.,  a mechanism by which something is carried or moved.

12. Chemistry.,  a catalytic agent that brings about a transfer of an element or group of atoms from one compound to another.

13. Also called charge carrier. Physics.,  any of the mobile electrons or holes in a metal or semiconductor that enable it to conduct electrical charge.

14. Physical Chemistry.,  a usually inactive substance that acts as a vehicle for an active substance.

15. carrier pigeon.

16. Painting.,  base.

carrier

¹

/ ˈkærɪə /

noun

1. a person, thing, or organization employed to carry goods, passengers, etc

2. a mechanism by which something is carried or moved, such as a device for transmitting rotation from the faceplate of a lathe to the workpiece

3. pathol another name for vector

4. pathol a person or animal that, without having any symptoms of a disease, is capable of transmitting it to others

5. Also called: charge carrier. physics an electron, ion, or hole that carries the charge in a conductor or semiconductor

6. short for carrier wave

7. chem

   1. the inert solid on which a dyestuff is adsorbed in forming a lake

   2. a substance, such as kieselguhr or asbestos, used to support a catalyst

   3. an inactive substance containing a radioisotope used in radioactive tracing

   4. an inert gas used to transport the sample through a gas-chromatography column

   5. a catalyst that effects the transfer of an atom or group from one molecule to another

8. See aircraft carrier

9. a breed of domestic fancy pigeon having a large walnut-shaped wattle over the beak; a distinct variety of pigeon from the homing or carrier pigeon See also carrier pigeon

10. a US name for roof rack

Carrier

²

/ ˈkærɪə /

noun

1. a member of an Athapaskan Native North American people of British Columbia

carrier

1. A person, animal, or plant that serves as a host for a pathogen and can transmit it to others, but is immune to it. Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria.

2. An organism that carries a gene for a trait but does not show the trait itself. Carriers can produce offspring that express the trait by mating with another carrier of the same gene.

3. See more at recessive

Other Word Forms

• intercarrier noun
• noncarrier noun
• supercarrier noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of carrier¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; carry, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Don’t worry, your postal carrier is still on the job.

From Los Angeles Times

Put the envelope in your mailbox, give it to your mail carrier or take it to the post office.

From Los Angeles Times

It has already announced a partnership with India's largest and newest carriers, Indigo and Akasa Airlines, who are launching new routes.

From BBC

Lawsuits are pending against multiple insurance companies, including Feltner’s carrier: Mercury.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, at Illinois, he’s the leading ball carrier in the Illini backfield.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aircraft carrier 
• warship