flatbed meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

flatbed

noun

US /ˈflætˌbɛd/

Etymology From flat + bed.

An open freight vehicle with no sides, designed to carry heavy or outsized loads.

A railway freight car with no sides; a flatcar.

The Rotrac E2 shunter was built by German manufacturer Zwiehoff and has been subject to a 14-month trial to prove it can replace diesel traction for moving flatbed wagons in and out of the depot.2021 December 29, “Network News: DRS acquires compact electric shunter”, in RAIL, number 947, page 14, photo caption:

Abbreviation, Clipping Clipping of flatbed trolley.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A document scanner with a flat bed.

adj

Etymology From flat + bed.

Having a flat bed.

I can't scan the whole document quickly because I only have a flatbed scanner.
The accident left the contents of a flatbed trailer scattered across all three lanes.

verb

Etymology From flat + bed.

To transport by flatbed.

Tatiana went from working the pulley that lifted the treadless tank and placed it on tread, to painting the red star on a finished tank ready to be flatbedded and put into production.2000, Paullina Simons, The Bronze Horseman, →ISBN:
'Well, we won't know about prints till we can flatbed his SUV back to Middle Street and check, but given he left the car in a hurry, my guess is we'll find something, maybe quite a lot.2011 -, James Hayman, The Cutting, →ISBN:

1 more example

“I'm going to have to flatbed this vehicle,” Larry said with an air of importance that irritated Pytel.2012, Rus Bradburd, Make It, Take It, →ISBN, page 23:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.