DictionaryAI

vehicle

SayVEE-uh-kuhl/ˈvi.ə.kəl/AUS/ˈvɪː(ə).kəl/UKVEE-i-kuhl/ˈviː.ɪ.kəl/

Pluralvehicles

7 meanings of vehicle

Practice

  1. 1
    transport machinenouncountable
    A device, such as a car, truck, or ship, used to carry people, animals, or goods from one place to another.

    The delivery vehicle pulled up outside the warehouse just after dawn.

    Emergency vehicles raced toward the scene of the crash.

    UsageMore formal than car or truck; used when those are too narrow, as in emergency vehicles.

    Similarconveyance

    Note

    Today it is the umbrella term behind compounds of every scale: electric vehicles, emergency vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles for drones.

  2. 2
    nouncountable
    A thing used to achieve, express, or display something; especially a film, play, or song designed to show off the talents of a particular performer.

    The trust was set up as a vehicle for passing wealth to her children.

    The musical was written as a vehicle for its young lead, giving her three solo numbers.

    UsageUsually a vehicle for something: a vehicle for her talents, a vehicle for raising money.

    Similarmeans, instrument, mechanism, channel, tool

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A substance, usually a liquid, oil, or gel, that carries or holds another substance, such as the inactive base of a medicine or the liquid in paint that holds the pigment.

    The active ingredient is dissolved in a vehicle suited to skin absorption.

    Choosing the right vehicle affects how quickly the medicine takes effect.

    Similarbase, medium, carrier

    Note

    Pharmacy borrows the carrying image directly: the vehicle is what the active ingredient travels in. It is usually named by its material, as in an ointment with a petrolatum vehicle, with the material noun placed straight before the word. The same idea covers the liquid binder in paint, which carries pigment instead of a drug.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • In pharmacy, a vehicle carries the active ingredient of a drug. fda.gov
    • Petrolatum can serve as the vehicle in an ointment. en.wiktionary.org
    • In paint, vehicle can mean the binder in which pigments are mixed. ehs.princeton.edu

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of vehicle apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin vehere ("to carry") gave vehiculum ("a carriage, conveyance"), and French véhicule passed it on to English.