perambulator
Americannoun
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Chiefly British: Older Use. a baby carriage; pram.
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an odometer pushed by a person walking.
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(formerly) a person who makes a tour of inspection on foot.
noun
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a formal word for pram 1
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a wheel-like instrument used by surveyors to measure distances
Etymology
Origin of perambulator
First recorded in 1605–15; 1850–55 perambulator for def. 1; from Medieval Latin “inspector, surveyor”; from Latin perambulāt-, past participle stem of perambulāre “to ramble, stroll”; see origin at perambulate, -or;
Explanation
A perambulator is an old-fashioned word for a baby carriage. You might see parents pushing perambulators through the park. The word perambulator isn't often used today — in Britain, people are more likely to call it a "pram," while in the U.S. these wheeled contraptions used for transporting babies are more commonly known as "strollers." An older meaning, and one still used today in a joking way, is "person who strolls around," or perambulates, from a root meaning "walk around," which is related to amble.
Vocabulary lists containing perambulator
The Importance of Being Earnest
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Novel Study: The Importance of Being Earnest, Acts 2–3
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Anna Karenina
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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.
He’s in the Charles Mingus tradition, a thumping perambulator, sometimes playing the instrument almost like a guimbri.
From New York Times ● May 18, 2018
She beckons me over to look at a 19th-century perambulator, its fittings designed to resemble coiling snakes, the creatures that appear on the Duke of Devonshire’s family crest.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2018
If he ever winds up testifying, we will have to wheel him in in a perambulator, so young and helpless will he have become.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 13, 2017
Then the infamous four-figure Bugaboo debuted, and a lot of upper-income families bought the pricy and flashy perambulator.
From Slate ● Jan. 22, 2015
“I hate being good,” he said aloud to himself, as he trailed after Mary Poppins and Jane and the perambulator on the afternoon walk to the Park.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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.
