crate

[ kreyt ]

/ kreɪt /

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See synonyms for: crate / crated / crating on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.

Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, especially an automobile: They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.

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.

verb (used with object), crat·ed, crat·ing.

to pack in a crate.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of crate

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

OTHER WORDS FROM crate

re·crate, verb (used with object), re·crat·ed, re·crat·ing.un·crate, verb (used with object), un·crat·ed, un·crat·ing.un·crat·ed, adjective

Words nearby crate

crassulacean acid metabolism, crassulaceous, Crassus, -crat, cratch, crate, crater, crater lake, Crater Lake National Park, craterlet, Crater Mound

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use crate in a sentence

In two hours, the Soviets would wake with sore heads and start to count their crates at the train station.
Lunik: Inside the CIA’s audacious plot to steal a Soviet satellite|Bobbie Johnson|January 28, 2021|MIT Technology Review
One tip is to leave the pet alone in a crate or other area for up to an hour at a time so they get used to being alone.
So many pets have been adopted during the pandemic that shelters are running out|Dana Hedgpeth|January 6, 2021|Washington Post
I kept their poetry safely packaged in a crate padded with literary scholarship.
I didn’t think I understood modern poetry. The less I tried to get it, the more I came to love it.|Ron Charles|December 4, 2020|Washington Post
With six flavors, these treats were created by a chef from the renowned Culinary Institute of America and come in a basswood cookie crate that can be used later to store magazines, catalogs or papers.
Holiday gifts for gearheads|Joe Phillips|November 23, 2020|Washington Blade

When a dog is calm and tired post-walk, Mynchenberg likes to take advantage of that time to work on essentials that are tough when a dog is amped up, like crate training.
The right way to walk your dog|John Kennedy|August 26, 2020|Popular-Science
A crate of the stuff arrived at the studio, compliments of the Plaza Athénée.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I climbed into the crate—82 inches long, 26 inches wide, and 11.5 inches deep—in late October.
Christie Bows to Iowa’s Pork Kings on Gestation Crates|Olivia Nuzzi|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Beside the bed, there was a table made from a small wooden crate.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis|Stanley Booth|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It does have a competitive following on Pinterest (comparable to Wal-Mart and Crate & Barrel) which is important for retailers.
Container Store Lets Loose in IPO|William O’Connor|November 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But I have news for House Republicans that may help them more than years of psychotherapy or a crate of Paxil: You may still win.
Beware of Obamacare-Gate!|Dean Obeidallah|November 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And I should kick the bottom out of dis crate just because you don't like the looks of somebody behind us!
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
The price is high, varying from twelve to twenty-eight dollars per crate; and is paid in ten monthly installments.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
When I picked myself up, I saw half the men securing the crate and the other half grovelling around something on the deck.
Jaffery|William J. Locke
So he gave a jump out of the net, but, in a second he found himself inside the wooden crate, or box.
Mappo, the Merry Monkey|Richard Barnum
Then Mappo looked at the crate in which the tiger was being carried along through the jungle.
Mappo, the Merry Monkey|Richard Barnum

British Dictionary definitions for crate

crate

/ (kreɪt) /

noun

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

slang an old car, aeroplane, etc

verb

(tr) to pack or place in a crate

Derived forms of crate

crater, nouncrateful, noun

Word Origin for crate

C16: from Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle

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

crate

Origin of crate

OTHER WORDS FROM crate

Words nearby crate

Words related to crate

How to use crate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for crate

Derived forms of crate

Word Origin for crate