life car


noun
  1. a watertight container used in marine rescue operations, suspended from a hawser and hauled back and forth between a stranded or wrecked vessel and the shore.

Origin of life car

1
An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Words Nearby life car

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

How to use life car in a sentence

  • There were three more brought ashore by the buoy, and then the keeper ordered the life–car forward.

    Fighting the Sea | Edward A. Rand
  • Among the arrivals by the life-car was the skipper of the “White Shield,” and there was also a man wrapped in a cloak.

  • That life-car, sir, was invented by Captain Douglass Ottinger, and this is the first one ever used.

  • We will put on the life–car soon as we get some of the crew ashore.

    Fighting the Sea | Edward A. Rand
  • During the interim of waiting, the life–car was also brought from the station.

    Fighting the Sea | Edward A. Rand