tractor

[ trak-ter ]

noun

1. a powerful motor-driven vehicle with large, heavy treads, used for pulling farm machinery, other vehicles, etc.
2. Also called truck tractor. a short truck with a driver's cab but no body, designed for hauling a trailer or semitrailer.
3. something used for drawing or pulling.
4. Aeronautics.
   1. a propeller mounted at the front of an airplane, thus exerting a pull.
   2. Also called tractor airplane. an airplane with a propeller so mounted.

tractor

/ ˈtræktə /

noun

1. a motor vehicle used to pull heavy loads, esp farm machinery such as a plough or harvester. It usually has two large rear wheels with deeply treaded tyres
2. a short motor vehicle with a powerful engine and a driver's cab, used to pull a trailer, as in an articulated lorry
3. an aircraft with its propeller or propellers mounted in front of the engine

Word History and Origins

Origin of tractor¹

1855–60; < Latin trac-, variant stem of trahere to draw, pull + -tor -tor

Word History and Origins

Origin of tractor¹

C18: from Late Latin: one who pulls, from trahere to drag

Example Sentences

We responded to one of the adverts, which claimed to be selling a small tractor for £4,400.

From BBC

Around these fumes are dozens of men, who wait for tractors to unload piles of cables before setting them on fire.

From BBC

The vehicle was retrofitted from an existing Terberg electric tractor unit.

From Science Daily

The farmers' demonstration was best summed up in two images: real tractors being driven by farmers around Parliament Square, and beside them a collection of toy tractors being peddled around by their children.

From BBC

Koebler explained that the movement kickstarted more than 15 years ago when a growing number of farmers struggled to repair their John Deere tractors, which had become more high-tech with new sensors and software.

From Salon