car

noun

A wheeled vehicle that moves independently, with at least three wheels, powered mechanically, steered by a driver and mostly for personal transportation but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry and a bus.

Any vehicle designed to run on rails, especially an unpowered one towed by being connected to others.

(rail transport, chiefly Canada, US) An unpowered unit in a railroad train, used to hold either passengers or cargo.

A similar vehicle used in special contexts, such as mines, quarries, and mills.

(rail transport) an individual vehicle, powered or unpowered, in a multiple unit.

(rail transport) A passenger-carrying unit in a subway or elevated train, whether powered or not.

A rough unit of quantity approximating the amount which would fill a railroad car.

The moving, load-carrying component of an elevator or other cable-drawn transport mechanism.

The passenger-carrying portion of certain amusement park rides, such as Ferris wheels.

The part of an airship, such as a balloon or dirigible, which houses the passengers and control apparatus.

(sailing) A sliding fitting that runs along a track.

(uncountable, US, informal) The aggregate of desirable characteristics of a car.

(US) A floating perforated box for living fish.

(US, prison slang) A clique or gang.

(programming) The first part of a cons in Lisp. The first element of a list.

A surname.

The most widespread of the Nicobarese languages spoken in the Nicobar Islands of India (ISO 839-3 code "caq").

(Internet, humorous) Deliberate misspelling of cat. [Terms relating to animals.]

Initialism of Central African Republic. [A country in Central Africa.]

(sports) Abbreviation of Carolina (North Carolina or South Carolina, states in the United States of America) [(countable) A female given name from Latin, Latinate form of Caroline; rare in English.]

(Philippines) Initialism of Cordillera Administrative Region. [a landlocked administrative region of the Philippines situated within the island of Luzon.]

(uncountable, organic chemistry) Abbreviation of carnitine. [(organic chemistry) A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport.]

(countable, immunology) Initialism of chimeric antigen receptor. [(immunology) A receptor protein engineered to give T cells the (new) ability to attach to a specific target protein.]

(archaic) A wheeled vehicle, drawn by a horse or other animal.

(archaic) A cart.

(archaic) A chariot.

(UK, Birmingham, obsolete) A four-wheeled cab, as opposed to a (two-wheeled) Hansom cab.

Roots

carruscar- · Latin · wheeled vehicle

Synonyms for car

automobilen motorcarn auton voiture sedann roadstern truckn coupen wheelsn jalopyn

Synonyms & related words for car

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of car — including automobile, motorcar, auto, voiture, sedan, roadster. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to car

Explore words related to car — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include vehicle, subcompact, motortruck, nonautomotive, minivan, jeep, tarantass, automotive. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for car

Common synonyms for car include automobile, motorcar, auto, voiture, sedan, roadster, truck, coupe — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does car come from?

The word car breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root car-, from Latin carrus (“wheeled vehicle”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.