truck

noun

(countable, uncountable, US, Canada, Australia) A heavier motor vehicle designed to carry goods or to pull a semi-trailer designed to carry goods; (in Malaysia/Singapore) a such vehicle with a closed or covered carriage.

(UK, rail transport) A railroad car, chiefly one designed to carry goods.

(US, often attributive) Garden produce, groceries (see truck garden).

The part of a skateboard or roller skate that joins the wheels to the deck, consisting of a hanger, baseplate, kingpin, and bushings, and sometimes mounted with a riser in between.

(theater) A platform with wheels or casters.

Any smaller wagon or cart or vehicle of various designs, pushed or pulled by hand or (obsolete) pulled by an animal, used to move and sometimes lift goods, like those in hotels for moving luggage or in libraries for moving books.

A small wheel or roller, specifically the wheel of a gun carriage.

The ball on top of a flagpole.

(nautical) On a wooden mast, a circular disc (or sometimes a rectangle) of wood near or at the top of the mast, usually with holes or sheaves to reeve signal halyards; also a temporary or emergency place for a lookout. "Main" refers to the mainmast, whereas a truck on another mast may be called (on the mizzenmast, for example) "mizzen-truck".

Dirt or other messiness.

(usually with negative) Relevance, bearing.

(usually with negative) Social intercourse; dealings, relationships.

(US, rail transport) Abbreviation of railroad truck or wheel truck; a pivoting frame, one attached to the bottom of the bed of a railway car at each end, that rests on the axle and which swivels to allow the axle (at each end of which is a solid wheel) to turn with curves in the track.

(obsolete, often in the plural) Small, humble items; things, often for sale or barter.

(historical) The practice of paying workers in kind, or with tokens only exchangeable at a shop owned by the employer [forbidden in the 19th century by the Truck Acts].

verb

(intransitive) To drive a truck.

(transitive) To convey by truck.

(transitive) To trade, exchange; barter.

(intransitive) To engage in commerce; to barter or deal.

(intransitive) To have dealings or social relationships with; to engage with.

(intransitive, US, slang) To travel, to proceed.

(intransitive, US, Canada, slang) To persist, to endure.

(intransitive, film production) To move a camera parallel to the movement of the subject.

(transitive, slang) To fight or otherwise physically engage with.

(transitive, slang) To run over or through a tackler in American football.

(intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To fail; run out; run short; be unavailable; diminish; abate.

(intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To give in; give way; knuckle under; truckle.

(intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To deceive; cheat; defraud.

(transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To tread (down); stamp on; trample (down).

Roots

trochostruck- · Greek · wheel

Synonyms for truck

lorryn camionn semitrailern vann wagonn carn tractorn pickupn flatcarn boxcarn

Synonyms & related words for truck

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of truck — including lorry, camion, semitrailer, van, wagon, car. 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 truck

Explore words related to truck — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include motortruck, truckload, vehicle, flatbed, gharry, hauler, voiture, minivan. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for truck

Common synonyms for truck include lorry, camion, semitrailer, van, wagon, car, tractor, pickup — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does truck come from?

The word truck breaks down into one root of Greek origin: the root truck, from Greek trochos (“wheel”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.