trailer

American  

[tray-ler] / ˈtreɪ lər /

noun

• trailers
  plural

1. a large van or wagon drawn by an automobile, truck, or tractor, used especially in hauling freight by road.

2. 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.

3. a person or thing that trails.

4. a trailing plant.

5. a short promotional film composed of clips showing highlights of a movie due for release in the near future.

6. blank film at the end of a reel or strip of film, for winding off the film in a motion-picture camera or projector.

7. Ceramics. a can with a spout, used in slip trailing.

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trailer British  

/ ˈtreɪlə /

noun

1. a road vehicle, usually two-wheeled, towed by a motor vehicle: used for transporting boats, etc

2. the part of an articulated lorry that is drawn by the cab

3. a series of short extracts from a film, used to advertise it in a cinema or on television

4. a person or thing that trails

5. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): caravan. a large enclosed vehicle capable of being pulled by a car or lorry and equipped to be lived in

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• trailers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of trailer

First recorded in 1580–90; trail + -er ¹

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Explanation

A trailer is a wheeled vehicle that can't move on its own — it needs to be pulled by a car, truck, or other vehicle. Some bike-riding parents tow their small children behind them in bicycle trailers. The trailer you might put a boat on, hitching it to your truck, trails behind the vehicle that's pulling it. Another meaning of trailer is a film preview or advertisement that theaters show before a movie. It might seem strange to call it a trailer when it comes first, but the earliest trailers, at the start of the 20th century, came after the movie, trailing it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trailer trailers

Vlasenko, who weighed around 75 kilograms, or 165 pounds, before the war, realized something was happening—perhaps a rescue by quad bike and trailer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

The bull was being led out of a trailer at Charnock Richard Welcome Break services on the M6 when it broke free from its handler and charged around the car park at about 08:10 GMT.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

“I love the idea that, with a trailer park, you’re in a kind of community,” she told the New York Times Style Magazine in 2021.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

Afram released a trailer for the vanished film anyway—which included a misspelling of co-star Ben Kingsley’s name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

When the famous George Finkle showed up at the door that Saturday morning, it was the biggest news to hit the trailer park in years.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

On set, the two had trailers that were next door to each other, and with time to kill between filming, they would head next door and chat for hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Intermodal containers and trailers transported by railroads increased 12.6% from a year earlier in the week ended Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

David Hacker, owner of subcontractor Construction Specialties of North Florida, said they have had to pick up trailers on the side of the road after crews were detained.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Guoth said he put his ducks and chickens in the bathroom and weighed down his boats and trailers so "nothing flips over".

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Red, black, and white trailers appeared and snaked along the edge of the page like a colorful locomotive.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

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Related Words

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