vehicle
Americannoun
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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.
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a conveyance moving on wheels, runners, tracks, or the like, as a cart, sled, automobile, or tractor.
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a means of transmission or passage.
Air is the vehicle of sound.
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a carrier, as of infection.
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a medium of communication, expression, or display.
The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.
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Theater, Movies. a play, screenplay, or the like, having a role suited to the talents of and often written for a specific performer.
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a means of accomplishing a purpose.
College is a vehicle for success.
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Rhetoric. the thing or idea to which the subject of a metaphor is compared, as “rose” in “she is a rose.”
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Pharmacology. a substance, usually fluid, possessing little or no medicinal action, used as a medium for active remedies.
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Painting. a liquid, as oil, in which a pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.
noun
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any conveyance in or by which people or objects are transported, esp one fitted with wheels
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a medium for the expression, communication, or achievement of ideas, information, power, etc
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pharmacol a therapeutically inactive substance mixed with the active ingredient to give bulk to a medicine
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Also called: base. a painting medium, such as oil, in which pigments are suspended
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(in the performing arts) a play, musical composition, etc, that enables a particular performer to display his talents
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a rocket excluding its payload
Pronunciation
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
Etymology
Origin of vehicle
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin vehiculum, from veh(ere) “to carry, convey, ride” + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2
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.
Police said the two suspects fled in a vehicle, last seen heading westbound on Manchester.
From Los Angeles Times
The embassy cautioned that “There are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship or support for the United States.”
From Los Angeles Times
Ituran Location and Control offers GPS- and radio frequency-based devices that help drivers and companies recover stolen vehicles and track fleets of vehicles.
From MarketWatch
Ituran Location and Control offers GPS- and radio frequency-based devices that help drivers and companies recover stolen vehicles and track fleets of vehicles.
From MarketWatch
Six tactical vest-clad Border Patrol officers riding in four vehicles swooped on the vehicle in the parking lot of a doctor’s office.
Definitions 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.
