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• carrier
  carrier

  noun

  a person or thing that carries.
• Carrier
  Carrier

  noun

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

carrier

American  

[kar-ee-er] / ˈkær i ər /

noun

carriers plural

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.

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Carrier ¹ British  

/ ˈkærɪə /

noun

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

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carrier ² British  

/ 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

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carrier Scientific  

/ kăr′ē-ər /

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intercarrier
  noun
• noncarrier
  noun
• supercarrier
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• carriers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of carrier

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

Explanation

In medicine, a person is a carrier if they test positive for a pathogen or a genetic defect without showing any symptoms. This person can unwittingly spread the illness to others without ever knowing he or she is the source. If your job involves carrying things or people, you work as a carrier. If you deliver newspapers, you are a newspaper carrier. If the job is to transport household items or people, your business is as a common carrier, such as a moving company or an airline. But if you deliver aircraft, you are not an aircraft carrier — that would be a large, flat-decked, military ship where planes can land or take off at sea.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carrier Carrier carriers

I requested a review of my bill and asked the hospital billing department to look into how it submitted the claim to my insurance carrier.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

The Atlanta-based carrier has spent years upending conventional airline wisdom that customers care mostly about finding the cheapest seat that works in their schedules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

A very large crude carrier, or VLCC, can hold about 2 million barrels but sits too deep in the water when fully loaded to use the canal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

American Airlines lowered its annual profit outlook Thursday, hitting shares while the carrier pointed to swelling jet fuel costs as a negative counterweight to healthy travel demand.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

This lodestone of longing, this certainty, drew him to lead his companions ever westward through wild and unknown country, as unerringly as a carrier pigeon released from an alien loft.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

Two F-35 jets then flew from the Prince of Wales to escort the Bear-F away from the Carrier Strike Group.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

A hulking tanker known as the Plata Carrier steamed out of the Strait of Hormuz last week carrying 2 million barrels of crude.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

"Welcome to the Caribbean, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group!" the Southern Command posted on X, alongside a video flaunting the ship's capabilities.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

The Air Carrier Access Act prohibits commercial airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

The air-conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Those photons then mobilize the semiconductor's electric charge carriers.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

But the major wireless carriers have to hope one of their rivals doesn’t sell out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

SpaceX’s position creates a classic prisoner’s dilemma among the big carriers, noted Julie Zhu, a senior research associate at MoffettNathanson.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026

Both players would be capable of taking turns in dropping deeper to maintain the balance of the team if strong carriers of the ball like Marc Guehi or Josko Gvardiol were to push forward.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Twelve aircraft carriers and forty-four destroyers, forty-four transport ships, thirty minesweepers, and many other vessels.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

Related Words

• aircraft carrier
• warship