owner-operator
Americannoun
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a driver, especially of a truck or taxicab, who owns and operates a vehicle used to earn a living.
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a person who both owns and operates a business.
Etymology
Origin of owner-operator
First recorded in 1955–60
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.
The court this week sided with Marriott International, owner of the Ritz-Carlton brand, the Kenyan camp’s owner-operator Lazizi Mara and the Kenyan government over Meitamei Olol Dapash, who brought the lawsuit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 28, 2026
Max Read is a journalist, screenwriter, editor and the owner-operator of Read Max.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
"I also nursed this dream, which I never confessed to my socialist comrades, of becoming an independent owner-operator or working in the industry as a logistics expert," Davis said.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2022
Former actor Joseph Cali, now the owner-operator of a high-end audio-video business, installed the home theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2020
Economic activities, in the course of the great revolution, had less and less connection with the homestead, and except for a tiny minority of the personnel, had no connection with the family of the owner-operator.
From Civilization and Beyond Learning from History by Scott Nearing
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.
