limousine
Americannoun
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any large, luxurious automobile, especially one driven by a chauffeur.
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a large sedan or small bus, especially one for transporting passengers to and from an airport, between train stations, etc.
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a former type of automobile having a permanently enclosed compartment for from three to five persons, with a roof projecting forward over the driver's seat in front.
noun
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any large and luxurious car, esp one that has a glass division between the driver and passengers
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a former type of car in which the roof covering the rear seats projected over the driver's compartment
Etymology
Origin of limousine
1900–05; < French: kind of motorcar, special use of limousine long cloak, so called because worn by the shepherds of Limousin
Explanation
A limousine is a fancy car that's driven by a special driver. Some high school kids hire limousines to take them and their friends to the prom. Some limousines are unusually long, stretched-out versions of regular sedans, while others are merely large and luxurious. The passengers in a limousine sit in the back, sometimes separated from the driver, or chauffeur, by a partition. Wealthy people might own their limousines, but most people rent them for special occasions like weddings. In the US, the word is also used to mean a more ordinary type of hired car: "I'll just take a limousine to the airport."
Vocabulary lists containing limousine
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Drivers in New York City already receive minimum pay and some paid time off, as required by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission.
From Reuters • Nov. 2, 2023
Nauman Hussain, 33, the former service manager for Prestige Limousine, now faces up to 15 years in prison.
From BBC • May 17, 2023
Special prosecutor Frederick Rench said Nauman Hussain, who ran Prestige Limousine, intentionally failed to follow the maintenance regulations for the 2001 Ford Excursion.
From Seattle Times • May 16, 2023
“There wasn’t one stretch limousine on the show floor,” said Robert Alexander, president of the National Limousine Association, a trade group.
From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2023
The very day I got the letter I went out and bought her that grey Limousine Lady Prynne was so keen I should take off her hands!
From The Uttermost Farthing by Lowndes, Marie Belloc
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
