Etymology Inherited from Middle English carre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman carre, from Old Northern French (compare Old French char), from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled baggage wagon”), from Gaulish *karros, from Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”). Doublet of carrus and horse.
A wheeled vehicle that moves independently, with at least three wheels, powered mechanically, steered by a driver and mostly for personal transportation but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry and a bus.
in a car
He drove his car to the theatre.
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He was thinking about buying a brand new car.
I'm a stunt; ride in the car with some bump in the trunk.2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:
If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the ever more expensive and then universally known killing hazards of gasoline cars: […] .2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
The race around the Interlagos circuit in São Paolo effectively became a 12-lap dash to the flag when Valtteri Bottas triggered the safety car after he pulled his Mercedes over with engine trouble.2019 November 17, Sarah Holt, “Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris collide AND Gasly and Sainz claim first F1 podiums”, in CNN:
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Archaic A wheeled vehicle, drawn by a horse or other animal.
It shall suffice me to enioy your loue, Which whiles I haue, I thinke my selfe as great, As Caesar riding in the Romaine streete, With captiue kings at his triumphant Carre.1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
He has deserved it [armour], were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus’ car.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene viii]:
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The Red Foliot sate in his car of polished ebony, drawn by six black horses with flowing manes and tails; before him went his musicians, pipers and minstrels doing their craft, and behind him fifty spearmen, weighed down with armour and ponderous shields that covered them from chin to toe.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 19:
In a poem by Sappho, Aphrodite is represented as riding in a car drawn by sparrows.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 87:
From the frontmost car of the subway, he filmed the progress through the tunnel.
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A rough unit of quantity approximating the amount which would fill a railroad car.
We ordered five hundred cars of gypsum.
This market reports only one or two cars per day, selling by the hundred weight, and at a price a little lower than that of Indian corn.1907, Texas Agricultural, Mechanical College System, Bulletin, volumes 93-117, page 5:
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The moving, load-carrying component of an elevator or other cable-drawn transport mechanism.
Fix the car of the express elevator - the door is sticking.
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The passenger-carrying portion of certain amusement park rides, such as Ferris wheels.
The most exciting part of riding a Ferris wheel is when your car goes over the top.
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The part of an airship, such as a balloon or dirigible, which houses the passengers and control apparatus.
Everything being apparently in readiness now, I stepped into the car of the balloon, […]1850, John Wise, A System of Aeronautics, page 152:
"What about a car?" "The car will be my next care. I have already planned how it is to be made and attached. Meanwhile I will simply show you how capable my apparatus is of supporting the weight of each of us."1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
On boats 25 feet or more, it is best to mount a mast car and track on the front of the mast so you can adjust the height of the pole above the deck.1995, Ken Textor, The New Book of Sail Trim, →ISBN, page 201:
The elements of a list are the successive cars along the "cdr chain." That is, the elements are the car, the car of the cdr, the car of the cdr of the cdr, etc.2000, Matt Kaufmann, Panagiotis Manolios, J Strother Moore, Computer-aided reasoning: an approach: