vehicle

American  

[vee-i-kuhl, vee-hi-] / ˈvi ɪ kəl, ˈvi hɪ- /

noun

• vehicles
  plural

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.

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vehicle British  

/ 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

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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

Derived Forms

• vehicular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vehicles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vehicle

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

Explanation

A vehicle gets you or your stuff where it needs to go. Even though the grocery store is only a few block away, you'll probably want to use a vehicle to get there, so you won't have to carry your groceries all the way home. A vehicle is anything that transports a person or thing, usually a car. But a vehicle can be a truck, a plane, a bus, a blimp or even a shopping cart, anything that transports people or things. Vehicle is also often used in the sense of a medium of expression. For example, if you're an artist, your art is the vehicle for your creative ideas. Some people believe that bread is just a vehicle for mayonnaise.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vehicle vehicles

"Of the nine, one survived after jumping from the vehicle."

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Software, which is crucial to vehicle intelligence and electrification, has been identified as an important area of collaboration, given the rapid pace of technological innovation, they said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers observed a vehicle parked in a no-parking zone on the 100 block of S. Meridian Street shortly after 1 a.m. and conducted a traffic investigation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

PC Blades and his colleague PC Tom Clough died in a head-on collision between their police car and a vehicle going the wrong way on the A66 near Middlesbrough early on 22 August.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

It was hard to see what was happening in the murky dark, but I could just about make out some men crowded round a vehicle at the end of the street.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Another factor is the proliferation of larger vehicles — a phenomenon known as “autobesity” — which have bigger blind spots and are more likely to seriously injure a pedestrian or bicyclist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its examinations of firms behind so-called special purpose vehicles that purport to offer exposure to private company investments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Along that stretch were shops, hotels and parking areas where travellers and vehicles gathered before crossing.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

The practice of pulling over random vehicles, often based on little more than a hunch, has been a cornerstone of the city’s crime-fighting strategy for decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Colonel Meecham disliked the intrusion of other vehicles in his post midnight dashes when he was moving his family to a new home.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Related Words

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