vehicle

[vee-i-kuhl, vee-hi-]

noun

1. any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport.

   a motor vehicle; space vehicles.

2. a conveyance moving on wheels, runners, tracks, or the like, as a cart, sled, automobile, or tractor.

3. a means of transmission or passage.

   Air is the vehicle of sound.

4. a carrier, as of infection.

5. a medium of communication, expression, or display.

   The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.

6. Theater, Movies.,  a play, screenplay, or the like, having a role suited to the talents of and often written for a specific performer.

7. a means of accomplishing a purpose.

   College is a vehicle for success.

8. Rhetoric.,  the thing or idea to which the subject of a metaphor is compared, as “rose” in “she is a rose.”

9. Pharmacology.,  a substance, usually fluid, possessing little or no medicinal action, used as a medium for active remedies.

10. Painting.,  a liquid, as oil, in which a pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.

vehicle

/ ˈviːɪkəl, vɪˈhɪkjʊlə /

noun

1. any conveyance in or by which people or objects are transported, esp one fitted with wheels

2. a medium for the expression, communication, or achievement of ideas, information, power, etc

3. pharmacol a therapeutically inactive substance mixed with the active ingredient to give bulk to a medicine

4. Also called: base. a painting medium, such as oil, in which pigments are suspended

5. (in the performing arts) a play, musical composition, etc, that enables a particular performer to display his talents

6. a rocket excluding its payload

Pronunciation Note

Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the in the second syllable tends to disappear: . A pronunciation with primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced is usually considered nonstandard: . In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normally on the second syllable, the is always pronounced.

Other Word Forms

• vehicular adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vehicle¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin vehiculum, from veh(ere) “to carry, convey, ride” + -i- -i- + -culum -cle ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of vehicle¹

C17: from Latin vehiculum, from vehere to carry

Example Sentences

Rapid urbanisation, industrial growth and land-use changes drove up fossil fuel use, vehicle emissions and biomass burning, sending aerosols into the atmosphere and dimming the Sun's rays.

Read more on BBC

Local media are reporting that the dead policeman had been among those screening vehicles entering State House.

Read more on BBC

Aerial video from the scene showed charred debris, smouldering vehicles and little remaining of the facility but rubble.

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It is also weighing how to confront incursions by unmanned vehicles when the culprit, and their intentions, can’t be determined.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Lithium is a key component in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• automobile 
• bicycle 
• boat 
• bus 
• cab 
• car 
• jeep 
• taxi 
• truck 
• van 
• wagon