three-wheeler

American

[three-whee-ler, -wee-] / ˈθriˈwhi lər, -ˈwi- /

noun

a vehicle equipped with three wheels, as a tricycle, a motorcycle with a sidecar, or some small, experimental, or early-model cars.

three-wheeler British

noun

a light car that has three wheels

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of three-wheeler

1885–90; three wheel(s) + -er ¹

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.

A truck carrying Hatton's yellow three-wheeler car was at the head of the funeral procession, with the name "Ricky" spelt out in flowers.

From Barron's

The England cricketer-turned-TV presenter sustained serious facial and rib injuries when the three-wheeler car he was driving for the BBC motoring programme rolled over in 2022.

From BBC

It is as Cockney as a Pearly Queen in a three-wheeler Del Boy van.

From BBC

The aerodynamic design and light fiberglass body — only 900 pounds — also gave the three-wheeler less than half the drag of conventional cars at the time, according to car news site Autoevolution.com.

From Washington Times

More than 90% of its 2.3 million electric vehicles are the cheaper and more popular two- or three-wheelers — that’s motorbikes, scooters and rickshaws — and over half of India’s three-wheeler registrations in 2022 were electric, according to an IEA report released in April.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023