See Also:

car (iou)



car noun. [kɑ:] LME.
[Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French carre from Proto-Romance var. of Latin carrum neut., carrus masc., from Celtic base repr. by Old & mod. Irish carr, Welsh car.]
gen. A wheeled conveyance, a carriage. Without specification of type now rare. LME.
jaunting car: see JAUNT verb. side-car: see SIDE noun.
A sledge, a sleigh. Long obsolete exc. Scot. & Canad. dial. LME.
A chariot, esp. of war, triumph, or pageantry. literary. L16.
Tennyson A reverent people behold The towering car, the sable steeds.
The passenger compartment of a balloon, airship, cableway, etc. L18.
b. The cage of a lift. Chiefly US. L19.
A railway carriage or van; a tramway vehicle. Chiefly N. Amer. exc. as 2nd elem. of comb. E19.
boxcar, buffet car, dining-car, freight car, observation car, railcar, sleeping-car, streetcar, etc.
b. As many or as much as a railway car will hold; a carload. N. Amer. M19.
A usu. four-wheeled motorized vehicle for use on roads, able to carry a small number of people; an automobile. L19.
bubble car, estate car, racing car, rally car, sports car, etc.
Comb.: car bomb a bomb concealed by terrorists under or in a (usu. parked) car; car-boot sale an outdoor sale at which people sell unwanted possessions from the boots of their cars; car bra: see BRA noun1 2; car coat a short coat designed esp. for motorists; carfare N. Amer. a passenger's fare to travel by streetcar, bus, etc.; carhop US colloq. a waiter at a drive-in restaurant etc.; carload (a) as many or as much as can be carried in a car; (b) US a minimum quantity of goods for which a lower rate is charged for transport; carman a driver of a van etc., a carrier; car park a space or building for parking cars; car-phone a radio telephone for use in a car; car pool (orig. N. Amer.) an arrangement for sharing a car for regular travelling, a group of people with such an arrangement; car-pool verb intrans. (N. Amer.) form or join a car pool, share a car for regular travelling; car pooler N. Amer. a member of a car pool; carport a roofed open-sided shelter for a car; carsick adjective affected with carsickness; carsickness nausea caused by the motion of a motor car; car wash (an establishment with) a piece of equipment for washing cars automatically.