carrier
Pluralcarriers
- 1A person or thing that carries other people or things.
We put the cat in a carrier to take her to the vet.
Two carriers brought the heavy boxes up the hill for us.
Similarbearer
Note
- 2
- 3A person or company paid to move goods from place to place.
The furniture store uses a carrier to deliver large orders.
Small carriers often move goods between nearby towns.
Similarhauler, haulier, transporter
- 4A person or other living thing with a gene or germ that can cause illness, but no signs of it.
She felt healthy, but a test showed she was a carrier of the virus.
Both parents are carriers, so their child could have the disease.
Note
- 5Short for aircraft carrier. Used when it is clear you mean a navy ship that planes fly from.
The jets took off from the carrier one after another.
Thousands of sailors live and work on the carrier.
Note
- 6An airline that has official permission to fly.
Which carrier are you flying with to Chicago?
Some low-cost carriers charge extra for a bag in the cabin.
Similarairline
Note
- 7A pigeon that carries messages from one place to another.
The soldier tied a note to the leg of the carrier and let it fly.
The old man kept a dozen carriers in a bird house on his roof.
- 8Short for carrier bag. Used in British English for a bag you get at a shop.
Do you need a carrier for your shopping?
She keeps an old carrier in her coat pocket for trips to the supermarket.
Note
- 9
- 10A radio, sound or light signal that is changed in a pattern so it can carry information.
The radio station sends its music by changing its carrier in a pattern.
The old modem hung up when it lost the carrier.
- 11Something very small that carries electric charge as it moves through a material.
Adding a little of another element gives the silicon more carriers, so it conducts better.
In a metal wire, each free electron is a carrier that moves electricity along.
Note
- 12A substance, such as a catalyst, that acts as a go-between in a chemical reaction.
The teacher added a little iron to the flask to act as a carrier in the reaction.
In some power plants, a special powder is the carrier that brings oxygen to the burning fuel.
Note
- 13A part in the set of gears between a car's drive wheels that holds the gears and the parts they spin on.
The mechanic lifted the carrier out of the back axle to fix the gears.
The truck made a loud grinding noise because the carrier was cracked.
Note
- 14In science fiction, a big spaceship that carries small fighting spaceships.
The carrier opened its huge doors, and dozens of little fighter ships flew out.
In the game, you have to destroy the enemy carrier before its fighters reach your base.
Similarmothership
Note
- 15A moving part in a gear set where small gears go around a central gear.
The small gears are held on pins in the carrier.
When the carrier turns, the small gears travel around the middle gear with it.
Similarspider
Note
- 16A part in a gun that brings each bullet into place, ready to be pushed into the barrel.
When he worked the lever, the carrier brought the next bullet up to the barrel.
The old rifle kept jamming because its carrier was bent.
Similarlifter
Note
- 17A small part on a lathe that makes the piece being shaped turn along with the machine.
He tightened the carrier on the metal rod before starting the lathe.
The carrier slipped, so the rod stopped turning while the machine kept going.
Similardog
Note
- 18A part of a braiding machine that holds a spool of thread.
The carriers move around each other as the machine braids the rope.
The worker put a new spool on the carrier when the old one ran out.
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of carrier apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Middle English cariere; it is carry + -er.