tranny
Pluraltrannies
- 1The transmission of a car or other vehicle.
The mechanic says the tranny is slipping and will cost two grand to rebuild.
He swapped a five-speed manual tranny into his old pickup.
UsageShop talk; in writing for the public, transmission is the better word, since this spelling is also a slur.
Similartransmission, gearbox
- 2An offensive slang term for a transgender person, especially a trans woman.
UsageUse trans woman, trans man or transgender person instead.
Note
In writing from the 1970s it could also mean a transvestite, and not every use is hostile, but it is safest to treat the word as offensive and to quote it rather than use it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The word could mean a transvestite in writing from the 1970s. en.wiktionary.org
- 3An electrical transformer.
The old tube amp hums because the tranny inside is starting to fail.
A squirrel shorted out the tranny on the pole and knocked out power to the whole street.
UsageSame spelling as a slur, so transformer is the safer word outside the workshop.
Similartransformer
Less common meanings
- 4A radio built with transistors; a transistor radio.
Dad listened to the cricket on his tranny while he weeded the garden.
She fell asleep with the tranny under her pillow, still tuned to the late-night station.
Similartransistor, radio
Note
Commonwealth speakers, Australians among them, use it colloquially for the transistor radio, and it often comes with an earplug that lets one person listen unheard: Radio Luxembourg on my tranny, a man holed up in a darkened storeroom with a tranny and an earplug.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- An earplug allows private listening. footyalmanac.com.au
- The Radio Luxembourg example is attested in the quotation from Dave Thompson's To Major Tom. en.wiktionary.org
- 5A Ford Transit van.
Practice
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Origin
Several separate clippings, each with the casual ending -y: transmission for the car part, transistor for the radio, transformer for the electrical device, Transit for the Ford van, and transgender or transvestite for the slur.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 8 facts
- The different senses have separate clipping origins. en.wiktionary.org
- The clippings have the colloquial suffix -y. en.wiktionary.org
- The automotive sense is clipped from transmission. en.wiktionary.org
- The radio sense is clipped from transistor. en.wiktionary.org
- The electrical-device sense is clipped from transformer. en.wiktionary.org
- The Ford van sense is clipped from Transit. en.wiktionary.org
- The slur is a clipping of transgender. en.wiktionary.org
- Transvestite is also identified as a source of the slur. trentu.ca