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vehicle

American  
[vee-i-kuhl, vee-hi-] / ˈvi ɪ kəl, ˈvi hɪ- /

noun

  1. any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport.

    a motor vehicle; space vehicles.

  2. a conveyance moving on wheels, runners, tracks, or the like, as a cart, sled, automobile, or tractor.

  3. a means of transmission or passage.

    Air is the vehicle of sound.

  4. a carrier, as of infection.

  5. a medium of communication, expression, or display.

    The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.

  6. Theater, Movies. a play, screenplay, or the like, having a role suited to the talents of and often written for a specific performer.

  7. a means of accomplishing a purpose.

    College is a vehicle for success.

  8. Rhetoric. the thing or idea to which the subject of a metaphor is compared, as “rose” in “she is a rose.”

  9. Pharmacology. a substance, usually fluid, possessing little or no medicinal action, used as a medium for active remedies.

  10. Painting. a liquid, as oil, in which a pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.

vehicle British  
/ ˈviːɪkəl, vɪˈhɪkjʊlə /

noun

  1. any conveyance in or by which people or objects are transported, esp one fitted with wheels

  2. a medium for the expression, communication, or achievement of ideas, information, power, etc

  3. pharmacol a therapeutically inactive substance mixed with the active ingredient to give bulk to a medicine

  4. Also called: base.  a painting medium, such as oil, in which pigments are suspended

  5. (in the performing arts) a play, musical composition, etc, that enables a particular performer to display his talents

  6. a rocket excluding its payload

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Pronunciation

Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the in the second syllable tends to disappear: . A pronunciation with primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced is usually considered nonstandard: . In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normally on the second syllable, the is always pronounced.

Other Word Forms

  • vehicular adjective

Etymology

Origin of vehicle

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin vehiculum, from veh(ere) “to carry, convey, ride” + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.