truck

[ truhk ]

/ trʌk /

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See synonyms for: truck / trucked / trucker / trucking on Thesaurus.com

noun

any of various forms of vehicle for carrying goods and materials, usually consisting of a single self-propelled unit but also often composed of a trailer vehicle hauled by a tractor unit.

any of various wheeled frames used for transporting heavy objects.

Also called hand truck. a barrowlike frame with low wheels, a ledge at the bottom, and handles at the top, used to move heavy luggage, packages, cartons, etc.

a low, rectangular frame on which heavy boxes, crates, trunks, etc., are moved; a dolly.

a tiered framework on casters.

a group of two or more pairs of wheels in one frame, for supporting one end of a railroad car, locomotive, etc.

Movies. a dolly on which a camera is mounted.

British. a freight car having no top.

a small wooden wheel, cylinder, or roller, as on certain old-style gun carriages.

Nautical. a circular or square piece of wood fixed on the head of a mast or the top of a flagstaff, usually containing small holes for signal halyards.

verb (used with object)

to transport by truck.

to put on a truck.

Movies. dolly (def. 11).

verb (used without object)

to convey articles or goods on a truck.

to drive a truck.

Movies. dolly (def. 12).

adjective

of, relating to, or for a truck or trucks: a truck drive; truck tires.

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Origin of truck

First recorded in 1605–15; back formation from truckle “wheel”; see origin at truckle

OTHER WORDS FROM truck

truck·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby truck

Trubetzkoy, truce, Truchas Peaks, Trucial Coast, Trucial States, truck, truckage, truck bolster, truck camper, truck crop, truckdriver

Other definitions for truck (2 of 3)

truck²

[ truhk ]

/ trʌk /

noun

vegetables raised for the market.

miscellaneous articles of little worth; odds and ends.

Informal. trash or rubbish: That's a lot of truck.

Informal. dealings: I'll have no truck with him.

barter.

a bargain or deal.

the payment of wages in goods instead of money.

truck system.

verb (used with object)

to exchange; barter; trade.

verb (used without object)

to exchange commodities; barter.

to traffic; have dealings.

Origin of truck

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English truken, trukien “to exchange,” from Old French troquer, trochier “to exchange” and Medieval Latin trocāre “to barter”; further origin unknown

Other definitions for truck (3 of 3)

truck³

[ truhk ]

/ trʌk /

noun

a shuffling jitterbug step.

verb (used without object)

to dance with such steps.

Slang. to walk or stroll, especially in a jaunty manner: trucking down the avenue on a Sunday afternoon.

Origin of truck

First recorded in 1935–40; special use of truck¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use truck in a sentence

Mail-carrying trucks are no longer being sent out empty, and everything is slowly getting back to normal.
Info About Local Post Office Operations Is Conflicting and Hard to Come By|Ashly McGlone and Kate Nucci|August 27, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Usually, workers would go into overtime if the next day’s mail wasn’t fully sorted for the trucks, Cowan said.
Info About Local Post Office Operations Is Conflicting and Hard to Come By|Ashly McGlone and Kate Nucci|August 27, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Earth’s deep stores of water may have been locally sourced rather than trucked in from far-flung regions of the solar system.
Earth’s building blocks may have had far more water than previously thought|Christopher Crockett|August 27, 2020|Science News
Waymo hasn’t yet said how long the testing phase will last, or when it thinks its trucks will start operating fully autonomously.
Waymo Just Started Testing Its Driverless Trucks in Texas|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|August 27, 2020|Singularity Hub

Then they put their gas masks on and let gas into the back of truck.
Misery in Minsk|Eugene Robinson|August 18, 2020|Ozy
Instead, the man and woman in the truck wanted to know where the crash site was and whether would I show them.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods|James Higdon|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“When Tanveer realized what was happening, he jumped out of the truck, but the Iranians shot him,” Abdullah says.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each well requires 1,500—2,000 truck trips over the lifetime of the well.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A fire truck roars down a city street and people cheer its arrival.
The Wildly Peaceful, Human, Almost Boring, Ultimately Great New York City Protests for Eric Garner|Mike Barnicle|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The system is truck-mounted and road-mobile, as are the big and conspicuous radars that stood next to it on display.
How China Will Track—and Kill—America’s Newest Stealth Jets|Bill Sweetman|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It wur Tom Wurmsee led me; I wuz gwine ter move his truck fur him this arternoon.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
As long as an emergency truck could squeeze through at moderate speed, that was enough.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
Dis whole job is a pipe, wit' us havin' a Monitor gun to open dat armored truck.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
He saw that the back door of the armored truck was opening and another guard was getting out.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
He put all his doctor truck into his gasoline wagon last night and choo-chooed outen town.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates

British Dictionary definitions for truck (1 of 2)

truck¹

/ (trʌk) /

noun

British a vehicle for carrying freight on a railway; wagon

US, Canadian and Australian a large motor vehicle designed to carry heavy loads, esp one with a flat platformAlso called (esp in Britain): lorry

a frame carrying two or more pairs of wheels and usually springs and brakes, attached under an end of a railway coach, etc

nautical

a disc-shaped block fixed to the head of a mast having sheave holes for receiving signal halyards
the head of a mast itself

any wheeled vehicle used to move goods

verb

to convey (goods) in a truck

(intr) mainly US and Canadian to drive a truck

Word Origin for truck

C17: perhaps shortened from truckle ²

British Dictionary definitions for truck (2 of 2)

truck²

/ (trʌk) /

noun

commercial goods

dealings (esp in the phrase have no truck with)

commercial exchange

archaic payment of wages in kind

miscellaneous articles

informal rubbish

US and Canadian vegetables grown for market

verb

archaic to exchange (goods); barter

(intr) to traffic or negotiate

Word Origin for truck

C13: from Old French troquer (unattested) to barter, equivalent to Medieval Latin trocare, of unknown origin

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 Idioms and Phrases with truck

truck

see have no truck with.

truck

Origin of truck

OTHER WORDS FROM truck

Words nearby truck

Other definitions for truck (2 of 3)

Origin of truck

Other definitions for truck (3 of 3)

Origin of truck

Words related to truck

How to use truck in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for truck (1 of 2)

Word Origin for truck

British Dictionary definitions for truck (2 of 2)

Word Origin for truck

Other Idioms and Phrases with truck