elevator

American  

[el-uh-vey-ter] / ˈɛl əˌveɪ tər /

noun

elevators plural

1. a person or thing that elevates or raises.

2. a moving platform or cage for carrying passengers or freight from one level to another, as in a building.

3. any of various mechanical devices for raising objects or materials.

4. a building in which grain is stored and handled by means of mechanical elevator and conveyor devices.

5. Aeronautics. a hinged horizontal surface on an airplane or the like, used to control the longitudinal inclination and usually placed at the tail end of the fuselage.

6. elevator shoe.

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elevator British  

/ ˈɛlɪˌveɪtə /

noun

1. a person or thing that elevates

2. a mechanical hoist for raising something, esp grain or coal, often consisting of a chain of scoops linked together on a conveyor belt

3. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): lift.  a platform, compartment, or cage raised or lowered in a vertical shaft to transport persons or goods in a building

4. a large granary equipped with an elevator and, usually, facilities for cleaning and grading the grain

5. any muscle that raises a part of the body

6. a surgical instrument for lifting a part of the body

7. a control surface on the tailplane of an aircraft, for making it climb or descend

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• elevators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of elevator

1640–50; < Late Latin ēlevātor, equivalent to ēlevā ( re ) ( see elevate) + -tor -tor

Explanation

An elevator is a machine that carries passengers to higher and lower floors in a tall building. Even though you usually take the stairs to your apartment, when you're exhausted you might decide to take the elevator instead. Most elevators run on electricity, although in the 19th century the first elevators used steam power to move heavy goods in coal mines. Today, elevators are legally required in tall buildings, so that people who aren't able to climb stairs have access to all floors. In the 1640's, elevator meant "muscles used to raise the body," from the Latin elevator, "one who raises up."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elevator elevators

The director, recently freed from a malfunctioning elevator in a pithily Andersonian incident, made a brief appearance onstage with Murray in his regal white suit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

There’s that elevator where one reality ends and another begins.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Rendered in ultra-realistic Precisionist style, his steel-and-concrete grain elevator dwarfs its surroundings, while crisscrossing rays of intense sunlight link it to the heavens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

Brad Lander, then serving as New York's fiscal watchdog, was accused of obstructing an elevator at a building that houses one of the city's immigration courts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

Andre and Camille are carrying box after box up two flights of stairs to our unit—there is an elevator, but it’s broken—while Dad and Lisa-Marie Anne struggle to assemble the kitchen table we splurged on.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

“I know which buildings have elevators and which ones require the stairs.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026

According to the federal Fair Housing Act, landlords must provide “accessible common use areas” to people with disabilities, and this includes elevators.

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

Soon after 8:34 p.m., a man emerged near the elevators, according to surveillance footage posted by President Trump on Truth Social.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

Once reliability testing is done, there will be another round of tests to ensure trains are integrated with fixed facilities such as elevators and stations, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026

The library was housed in the top floors of the Metropolitan Building, but I avoided the elevators and took the stairs down the eight flights to ground level, ignoring the still-raw blisters on my feet.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• escalator