trailer

American  

[trey-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

Etymology

Origin of trailer

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

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

Fans of Children of Blood and Bone got a fresh glimpse of stars including Cynthia Erivo, Damson Idris and Lashana Lynch in the first trailer for the film adaptation of the popular fantasy novel.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

You have already seen a trailer for this movie.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Reza was driving a pickup truck, and the other vehicle was a tractor trailer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

On the film’s website, one can view the trailer in Imax 70mm, regular Imax, regular 70mm, Dolby Vision and large format.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

I laid my head on his shoulder, so grateful he was still here with me, grateful even for Cletus, who I knew was somewhere in the trailer, waiting.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant

It takes up one-third of a 53-foot tractor trailer—one of 17 trailers “Phantom” travels with, and the team anticipates about 38 hours to load into a venue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Sure, it might be annoying that studios are trying to pass off overly enthusiastic five-star Letterboxd reviews as legitimate film criticism in marketing on posters and in trailers.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

Both trailers, which took a deeper look at the game's narrative and the lives of its protagonists, currently have a total of 446 million views combined.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Materials arrive for the day in a succession of 18-wheeler trucks, which are tipped by hydraulic lifts to empty the contents of their trailers onto the 28,000-square-foot tipping room floor.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

“Do we have phones in our trailers? Even prisoners are allowed phone calls,” I say.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Related Words

• mobile home