# carrier

Pronunciation: US say "KA-ree-er" /ˈkæɹ.i.ɚ/; UK/AUS say "KA-ri-uh" /ˈkæɹ.ɪ.ə/

## Noun

1. Someone or something that carries another person or thing.
   - Simple: A person or thing that carries other people or things.
   - _The bike has a rear carrier sturdy enough for a week's groceries._
   - _The expedition hired local carriers to haul supplies up the mountain._
2. A company that operates a mobile phone network.
   - Simple: A company that runs a cell phone network.
   - _The phone is unlocked, so it works with any carrier._
   - _Major carriers are racing to expand 5G coverage in rural areas._
3. A person or company whose business is shipping freight.
   - Simple: A person or company paid to move goods from place to place.
   - _The carrier is liable for any damage to the freight while it is in transit._
   - _We compared rates from three trucking carriers before shipping the machinery._
4. A person or other organism that has a genetic trait, mutation, or infection that can cause disease but shows no symptoms.
   - Simple: A person or other living thing with a gene or germ that can cause illness, but no signs of it.
   - _Genetic testing revealed that he is a carrier of the cystic fibrosis mutation._
   - _Because carriers show no symptoms, they can spread typhoid without knowing it._
5. Short for aircraft carrier. — Ellipsis of aircraft carrier.
   - Simple: Short for aircraft carrier. Used when it is clear you mean a navy ship that planes fly from.
   - _The carrier and its escort ships sailed into the Mediterranean at dawn._
   - _The Navy kept the aging carrier in service as a training ship for new pilots._
6. An airline that is officially certified to operate flights.
   - Simple: An airline that has official permission to fly.
   - _The merger created the country's third-largest domestic carrier._
   - _Passengers stranded by the cancellation were rebooked on a partner carrier._
7. A pigeon used to carry messages.
   - Simple: A pigeon that carries messages from one place to another.
   - _Each carrier flew home to its loft with a tiny capsule strapped to one leg._
   - _During the siege, carriers flew messages over the enemy lines every morning._
8. Short for carrier bag. *(UK)* — Ellipsis of carrier bag.
   - Simple: Short for carrier bag. Used in British English for a bag you get at a shop.
   - _At the till she asked if I wanted a carrier, and I said I'd brought my own._
   - _The handles of the paper carrier tore before he'd even reached the bus stop._
9. A liquid or gas that serves to hold or carry another substance.
   - Simple: A liquid or gas that another substance is mixed into or carried in.
   - _Water-based inks use water rather than solvent as the carrier for the dye._
   - _Nitrogen acts as an inert carrier, sweeping the vapor through the coating chamber._
10. A signal, such as a radio, sound or light wave, that is modulated so that it can carry information.
   - Simple: A radio, sound or light signal that is changed in a pattern so it can carry information.
   - _An AM station encodes its audio by varying the strength of its carrier._
   - _The modem dropped the connection as soon as it lost the carrier from the other end._
11. Short for charge carrier: anything that carries electric charge as it moves through a material.
   - Simple: Something very small that carries electric charge as it moves through a material.
   - _Doping the silicon with phosphorus adds free electrons, raising the number of carriers that can conduct current._
   - _In this material each hole behaves as a positive carrier, drifting the opposite way to the electrons._
12. A catalyst or other substance that acts as an intermediary in a chemical reaction.
   - Simple: A substance, such as a catalyst, that acts as a go-between in a chemical reaction.
   - _Iron filings are added as a carrier when benzene is brominated._
   - _In chemical looping combustion, a metal oxide is the carrier that shuttles oxygen from the air to the fuel._
13. In a differential gear assembly, especially a vehicle's, the part that holds the gears and their bearings.
   - Simple: A part in the set of gears between a car's drive wheels that holds the gears and the parts they spin on.
   - _The mechanic unbolted the carrier from the axle housing to get at the ring and pinion gears._
   - _A cracked carrier let the spider gears shift, and the rear end started to grind on every turn._
14. In science fiction, a starship designed to carry and launch starfighters.
   - Simple: In science fiction, a big spaceship that carries small fighting spaceships.
   - _The carrier hung back behind the fleet and launched wave after wave of starfighters._
   - _Our scanners picked up two enemy carriers dropping out of hyperspace near the moon._
15. In a planetary gear train, a movable piece that drives or carries other parts.
   - Simple: A moving part in a gear set where small gears go around a central gear.
   - _The three planet gears turn on pins fixed to the carrier, which rotates around the sun gear._
   - _In this transmission the output shaft is splined to the carrier, so the shaft turns whenever the planets orbit._
16. A movable part of a magazine gun that brings each cartridge to the position from which it can be pushed into the barrel.
   - Simple: A part in a gun that brings each bullet into place, ready to be pushed into the barrel.
   - _Working the lever raises the carrier, lifting the next cartridge in line with the chamber._
   - _The gunsmith replaced a worn carrier that kept catching shells against the edge of the barrel._
17. A piece, also called a lathe dog, that passes the motion of a lathe's faceplate to the object being turned.
   - Simple: A small part on a lathe that makes the piece being shaped turn along with the machine.
   - _Clamp the carrier on the end of the shaft before mounting it between centers._
   - _The bent tail of the carrier caught against the faceplate, and the bar began to spin._
18. In a braiding machine, a holder for a spool or bobbin.
   - Simple: A part of a braiding machine that holds a spool of thread.
   - _The braider's sixteen carriers wind around one another on curving tracks, interlacing their yarns over the cable._
   - _Before each run, the operator loads a full bobbin onto every carrier._

## Origin

From Middle English cariere, formed partly from carien + -ere on the model of Anglo-Norman carier, cariour, and partly taken directly from Anglo-Norman. In modern terms it can be analysed as carry + -er.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/carrier (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).