license plate

American  

noun

license plates plural

1. a plate or tag, usually of metal, bearing evidence of official registration and permission, as for the use of a motor vehicle.

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license plate British  

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): numberplate.  a plate mounted on the front and back of a motor vehicle bearing the registration number

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• license plates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of license plate

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

license plate

A license plate circulated on chat networks, and agents later swapped it out.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

District Court of Maine, alleging that federal agents are using facial recognition and license plate readers to surveil and threaten legal observers in the state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Barragan’s office conducted a review of the police department’s use of automatic license plate readers over a two-month period from August to September 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

"The Tennessee license plate used to have a sign on it, or a little motto that said, 'Follow me to Tennessee,'" Bessent said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

In the garage, he parks a Subaru with a personalized license plate.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel