vehicle
Americannoun
-
any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport.
a motor vehicle; space vehicles.
-
a conveyance moving on wheels, runners, tracks, or the like, as a cart, sled, automobile, or tractor.
-
a means of transmission or passage.
Air is the vehicle of sound.
-
a carrier, as of infection.
-
a medium of communication, expression, or display.
The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.
-
Theater, Movies. a play, screenplay, or the like, having a role suited to the talents of and often written for a specific performer.
-
a means of accomplishing a purpose.
College is a vehicle for success.
-
Rhetoric. the thing or idea to which the subject of a metaphor is compared, as “rose” in “she is a rose.”
-
Pharmacology. a substance, usually fluid, possessing little or no medicinal action, used as a medium for active remedies.
-
Painting. a liquid, as oil, in which a pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.
noun
-
any conveyance in or by which people or objects are transported, esp one fitted with wheels
-
a medium for the expression, communication, or achievement of ideas, information, power, etc
-
pharmacol a therapeutically inactive substance mixed with the active ingredient to give bulk to a medicine
-
Also called: base. a painting medium, such as oil, in which pigments are suspended
-
(in the performing arts) a play, musical composition, etc, that enables a particular performer to display his talents
-
a rocket excluding its payload
Pronunciation
Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the in the second syllable tends to disappear: . A pronunciation with primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced is usually considered nonstandard: . In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normally on the second syllable, the is always pronounced.
Other Word Forms
- vehicular adjective
Etymology
Origin of vehicle
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin vehiculum, from veh(ere) “to carry, convey, ride” + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2
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.
BYD, now the world’s biggest EV seller, overtaking Tesla, sold a total of 190,190 vehicles in February, down 41% from a year earlier.
FBI special agent Alex Doran said earlier Sunday that a motive for the attack was not known but "there were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism."
From Barron's
Chinese electric vehicle sales are having a slow start to 2026.
From Barron's
He added that China was the largest automotive market in the world and that vehicles produced there were now competing within the luxury market traditionally occupied by the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin.
From BBC
Typically mounted on street poles or atop police cars, plate readers continuously monitor passing vehicles, recording their location at a specific date and time.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
