- Also called: motorcar, automobile
a self-propelled road vehicle designed to carry passengers, esp one with four wheels that is powered by an internal-combustion engine (as modifier): car coat a conveyance for passengers, freight, etc, such as a cable car or the carrier of an airship or balloon a railway vehicle for passengers only, such as a sleeping car or buffet car a railway carriage or van the enclosed platform of a lift - a poetic word for chariot
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
car1 /kɑr/USA pronunciation
n.
car., an abbreviation of:
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Automotivean automobile: [countable]We needed to buy a new car.[uncountable* by + ~]She has to get to work by car.
- Transport a vehicle running on rails or tracks:[countable]The train had eight cars, including the dining car.
- Transport[countable] the part of an elevator, etc., that carries the passengers, etc.
car., an abbreviation of:
- carat.
car1
(kär),USA pronunciation n.
car′less, adj.
car2 (kär),USA pronunciation adj. [Chiefly Scot.]
CAR,
car.,
- Automotivean automobile.
- Transporta vehicle running on rails, as a streetcar or railroad car.
- the part of an elevator, balloon, modern airship, etc., that carries the passengers, freight, etc.
- British Termsany wheeled vehicle, as a farm cart or wagon.
- [Literary.]a chariot, as of war or triumph.
- [Archaic.]cart;
carriage.
- Celtic; compare Old Irish carr wheeled vehicle
- Late Latin carra (feminine singular), Latin carra, neuter plural of carrum, variant of carrus
- Anglo-French
- Middle English carre 1350–1400
car2 (kär),USA pronunciation adj. [Chiefly Scot.]
- Scottish Termsleft-handed.
- Scottish Termssinister.
- Scots Gaelic cearr
- Middle English (Scots) 1375–1425
CAR,
- Computingcomputer-assisted retrieval.
- 1980–85
car.,
- Jewelrycarat;
carats.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
compound annual return
'car lot' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):