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Synonyms

container

American  
[kuhn-tey-ner] / kənˈteɪ nər /

noun

  1. anything that contains or can contain something, as a carton, box, crate, or can.

  2. a large, vanlike, reuseable box for consolidating smaller crates or cartons into a single shipment, designed for easy and fast loading and unloading of freight.


container British  
/ kənˈteɪnə /

noun

  1. an object used for or capable of holding, esp for transport or storage, such as a carton, box, etc

    1. a large cargo-carrying standard-sized container that can be loaded from one mode of transport to another

    2. ( as modifier )

      a container port

      a container ship

"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

Etymology

Origin of container

1400–50 for an earlier sense; 1495–1505 container for def. 1; late Middle English conteiner; contain, -er 1

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.

It could be a chair, a tent-like structure, or a curved container of some kind, for instance.

From BBC

The Middle East conflict has significantly delayed container shipping’s return to the Suez Canal, the chief executive of German carrier Hapag-Lloyd said.

From The Wall Street Journal

I was sitting in the passenger seat, two glass containers on my lap.

From Literature

Berbera still handles far fewer containers than nearby Djibouti or Mombasa, but port traffic was up 30 percent from 2023 to 2025, and recent diplomatic moves could lead to much more.

From Barron's

A probe that resembles a metal pen is inserted into a container holding the honey and cocoa shells.

From Science Daily