trailer

[trey-ler]

See more synonyms for trailer on Thesaurus.com

noun

a large van or wagon drawn by an automobile, truck, or tractor, used especially in hauling freight by road.Compare full trailer, semitrailer.
Also called travel trailer. a vehicle attached to an automobile and used as a mobile home or place of business, usually equipped with furniture, kitchen facilities, bathroom, etc.Compare tent trailer.
a person or thing that trails.

a trailing plant.
a short promotional film composed of clips showing highlights of a movie due for release in the near future.
blank film at the end of a reel or strip of film, for winding off the film in a motion-picture camera or projector.Compare leader(def 6).
Ceramics. a can with a spout, used in slip trailing.

Origin of trailer

First recorded in 1580–90; trail + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for trailer

clip, ad, advertisement, teaser, prevue, promo

Examples from the Web for trailer

Contemporary Examples of trailer

After the release of the trailer for the special last week, TLC received a requisite and perhaps well-deserved tongue-lashing.
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism
Samantha Allen
January 1, 2015
Production expenses: equipment rental, lights, lighting board, van rental, trailer rental, road cases, backline.
How Much Money Does a Band Really Make on Tour?
Jack Conte
December 8, 2014
The crime-fighting penguins, says the trailer, are “masters of the skies, espionage, and aerial assault.”
Lovable ‘Madagascar’ Penguins Are Known to Rape and Torture in Real Life
Asawin Suebsaeng
November 26, 2014
And then I saw the trailer to Nightcrawler and texted him again and said, “Wow, you inspire me every day.”
Anna Kendrick on Feminism, #GamerGate, and the Celebrity Hacking Attack
Marlow Stern
November 25, 2014
Banks grew up far from the trailer park—up on 152nd St. and Amsterdam in Harlem.
Azealia Banks Opens Up About Her Journey from Stripping to Rap Stardom
Marlow Stern
November 17, 2014

Historical Examples of trailer

"We can come back and look at your trailer tomorrow in daylight," said Rush.
Old Rambling House
Frank Patrick Herbert
He thought of the trailer: A good one, but not worth more than seven thousand.
Old Rambling House
Frank Patrick Herbert
"That's the way I feel," answered the trailer, and his tone was conclusive.
They of the High Trails
Hamlin Garland
Never lose the chance of the first snow if you wish to become a trailer.
Boy Scouts Handbook
Boy Scouts of America
Roberts picked up from the fort a Mescalero Apache famous as a trailer.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for trailer

trailer

noun

a road vehicle, usually two-wheeled, towed by a motor vehicle: used for transporting boats, etc
the part of an articulated lorry that is drawn by the cab
a series of short extracts from a film, used to advertise it in a cinema or on television
a person or thing that trails
US and Canadian a large enclosed vehicle capable of being pulled by a car or lorry and equipped to be lived inAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): caravan

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

Word Origin and History for trailer

1890, "vehicle pulled by another," agent noun from trail (v.); originally a small carriage drawn along by a bicycle. Meaning "preview of a coming movie" first attested 1928. Trailer park recorded by 1936. Trailer trash in use by 1986.