tow truck

noun

1. wrecker ( def 3 ).

tow truck

noun

1. a motor vehicle equipped for towing away wrecked or disabled cars Also calledbreakdown vanUS and Canadianwrecker

Word History and Origins

Origin of tow truck¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Officers with CHP’s San Jose office posted photos on the social media site X, showing crews slowly dismantling the plane and placing it on a tow truck.

From Los Angeles Times

Massachusetts police had to call in a tow truck to remove a giant great white shark after it washed up dead on a beach in Cape Cod.

From BBC

A police car followed the tow truck as it drove the shark away from the beach.

From BBC

The video shows the truck reversing with its wheel-lift lowered, attempting to hook the front wheels of a silver Honda sedan, which kept reversing to avoid the tow truck.

From Los Angeles Times

And every time, the rangers patiently answered that they definitely wouldn’t recommend any of the unpaved roads for two-wheel-drive cars, or even four-wheel-drive SUVs, unless they had high clearance, nerves of steel and enough money to pay for a tow truck.

From Los Angeles Times