streetcar

American  

[street-kahr] / ˈstritˌkɑr /

noun

• streetcars
  plural

1. a public vehicle running regularly along certain streets, usually on rails, as a trolley car or trolley bus.

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streetcar British  

/ ˈstriːtˌkɑː /

noun

1. Also called: trolley car.   tram.   tramcar.  an electrically driven public transport vehicle that runs on rails let into the surface of the road, power usually being taken from an overhead wire

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• streetcars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of streetcar

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; street + car ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

streetcar streetcars

The city is increasing public transit to the stadium on match days but keeping subway, bus and streetcar prices at normal levels of less than $4 a ride.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

When the next streetcar rolls in, the upper deck fills with a gaggle of schoolgirls, squabbling over who gets the window seat closest to the sea breeze.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

The commuters in “Le Métro” hark back to his early streetcar scenes but now there’s an air of mystery to the straphangers, with the central figure’s face obscured and bisected by a subway pole.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

An-My, you chose Robert Frank’s picture of a streetcar in New Orleans, taken that year.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

Once, she had seen a haint raise such a bluster on the sidewalk that a living man stumbled as it spun through him, falling hard into the street and nearly getting flattened by a streetcar.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

The fair featured electric lighting and electric streetcars powered by hydroelectricity generated by Niagara Falls, reflecting a moment when electricity was beginning to move from novelty toward widespread utility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

Now, Egyptians young and old have flocked for farewell rides, before the streetcars come to a halt in April.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

Scranton’s nickname, “Electric City,” stems from its being one of the first places in the U.S. to have electric streetcars.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2025

Both have done away with them, leaving Kolkata as the only Indian city to hold onto the trundling streetcars.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2024

In midaftemoon they took one of the last electric streetcars that still existed in the city and went to have fried fish at a stall in the market.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• trolley