tow truck

American

noun

wrecker.

tow truck British

noun

Also called: breakdown van, wrecker. a motor vehicle equipped for towing away wrecked or disabled cars

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

tow trucks

plural

Etymology

Origin of tow truck

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

See Examples For:

tow truck

Rising fuel prices 'cost tow truck business £10k'

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Damon Vescovi followed the tow truck ferrying Spivey’s body to the impound lot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

The video captures a car hooked up to a tow truck and what appears to be its owner running toward their vehicle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

The axles use open differentials and brake-based torque vectoring to articulate power left or right—an ability that could make the difference between getting to the ski resort or glumly waiting for a tow truck.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

When Brad’s father came to their Mountain View Inn in his tow truck to take Brad home, he met Ryan’s mother.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

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