license plate

American

noun

a plate or tag, usually of metal, bearing evidence of official registration and permission, as for the use of a motor vehicle.

license plate British

noun

Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): numberplate. a plate mounted on the front and back of a motor vehicle bearing the registration number

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of license plate

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Inside he found a hidden camera feeding a vast surveillance network that logs the license plate of every driver passing through this stretch of remote backcountry between San Diego and the Arizona state line.

From Los Angeles Times

The company’s catalog includes license plate readers, gunshot detectors and automated drones, with plans to expand into even more massive people-tracking software.

From Salon

Patrollers took pictures of license plates and immigration enforcement vehicles and then sent those pictures to the Community Self Defense Coalition, so its members knew which cars to look out for across L.A.

From Los Angeles Times

Still more people have been surveilled and captured in DHS databases, with federal agents in some cases holding cellphones inches from their faces to scan their features, or else taking pictures of their license plates.

From Salon

As of last year, the company, which has contracts primarily with police agencies, said its cameras and license plate readers were active in over 5,000 US cities.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023