crate

American  

[kreyt] / kreɪt /

noun

1. a slatted wooden box or framework for packing, shopping, or storing fruit, furniture, glassware, crockery, etc.

2. any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.

3. Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, especially an automobile.

   They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.

4. a quantity, especially of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 foot (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 meters).

   a crate of oranges.

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verb (used with object)

crated, crating

1. to pack in a crate.

crate British  

/ kreɪt /

noun

1. a fairly large container, usually made of wooden slats or wickerwork, used for packing, storing, or transporting goods

2. slang an old car, aeroplane, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to pack or place in a crate

Other Word Forms

• crateful noun
• crater noun
• recrate verb (used with object)
• uncrate verb (used with object)
• uncrated adjectiveuncrated, uncrating

Etymology

Origin of crate

1350–1400; 1915–20 crate for def. 3; Middle English, obscurely akin to Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle

Example Sentences

In his direct addresses to the jury, he used a set of wooden baby blocks, stacks of paper, even a hammer and a crate of eggs.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Video showed customs officers prying open a crate to find the rock, its surface grey and rugged.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

In contrast, David renders with trompe l’oeil precision the wood grain of the cheap crate that Marat was using as a table beside his tub.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

It was such a rapid return that Pearce joked Robbie might want her farewell gift - a crate of champagne sent to the show's producers - returned.

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025

Not him, just the crash of a burning crate.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Related Words

• box
• cage
• carton