trainer
Americannoun
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trainers
plural
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a person or thing that trains.
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a staff member on an athletic team who gives first aid and therapy to injured players.
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a person who trains athletes; coach.
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a person who trains racehorses or other animals for contests, shows, or performances.
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an airplane or a simulated aircraft used in training aircrew members, especially pilots.
noun
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a person who trains athletes in a sport
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a piece of equipment employed in training, such as a simulated aircraft cockpit
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horse racing a person who schools racehorses and prepares them for racing
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(plural) an informal name for training shoes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of trainer
Explanation
A trainer is someone who teaches or coaches someone, like the trainer at the gym who promises that she'll have you ready to run a marathon in four months. Some trainers can teach you how to do sit ups, while others can instruct you to program a computer or be an effective leader. Dog trainers teach dogs to follow commands — and they teach dog owners to give commands effectively. The noun trainer comes from the verb train, "to discipline or teach," from an earlier sense, "to manipulate to bring a desired form," the way a gardener trains a rose to grow up a trellis.
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:
Just last week, I teared up watching a YouTube video of a dog trainer dressed like Edward Scissorhands doing an intricate pas de deux with a border collie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
The nephew of trainer Aidan O'Brien, he was a mainstay of the Minehead operation run by Philip Hobbs, joining as a teenager and remaining until his retirement in 2023.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026
One copycat AI video stole her joke about asking out a personal trainer -- a bit she once delivered on popular TV host Jimmy Fallon's show.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2026
Tatum, a personal trainer in Santa Barbara, said he saw an ambulance and a few people in the last mile of the race who appeared dizzy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
On Monday morning, I sat down to plan my week, scheduling massage appointments, booking sessions with my trainer, arranging lesson times with my coach.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
But I have been getting my trainers on most mornings for the past 18 months, simply to stay fit and lose weight.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
“I especially want to thank the athletic trainers and medical personnel who responded and cared for me on the field,” Campbell said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
While she conceded dogs might become too reliant on treats if that’s the only method, she said seasoned trainers know to deploy a mix of motivators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
A brash and irreverent figure, Lee is angry—not at owners, but at trainers who say their rewards-based method is the only way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
All day long, trainers kept scratching horses from the race.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
