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Webster 1913 Edition


Vehicle

Ve′hi-cle

,
Noun.
[L.
vehiculum
, fr.
vehere
to carry; akin to E.
way
,
wain
. See
Way
,
Noun.
, and cf.
Convex
,
Inveigh
,
Veil
,
Vex
.]
1.
That in or on which any person or thing is, or may be, carried, as a coach, carriage, wagon, cart, car, sleigh, bicycle, etc.; a means of conveyance; specifically, a means of conveyance upon land.
2.
That which is used as the instrument of conveyance or communication;
as, matter is the
vehicle
of energy
.
A simple style forms the best
vehicle
of thought to a popular assembly.
Wirt.
3.
(Pharm.)
A substance in which medicine is taken.
4.
(Paint.)
Any liquid with which a pigment is applied, including whatever gum, wax, or glutinous or adhesive substance is combined with it.
☞ Water is used in fresco and in water-color painting, the colors being consolidated with gum arabic; size is used in distemper painting. In oil painting, the fixed oils of linseed, nut, and poppy, are used; in encaustic, wax is the vehicle.
Fairholt.

Webster 1828 Edition


Vehicle

VE'HICLE

,
Noun.
[L. vehiculum, from veho, to carry.]
1.
That in which any thing is or may be carried; any kind of carriage moving on land, either on wheels or runners. This word comprehends coaches, chariots, gigs, sullies, wagons, carts of every kind, sleighs and sleds. These are all vehicles. But the word is more generally applied to wheel carriages, and rarely I believe to water craft.
2.
That which is used as the instrument of conveyance. Language is the vehicle which conveys ideas to others. Letters are vehicles of communication.
A simple style forms the best vehicle of thought to a popular assembly.

Definition 2024


vehicle

vehicle

English

Noun

vehicle (plural vehicles)

  1. A conveyance; a device for carrying or transporting substances, objects or individuals.
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
      But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.
    • 2013 June 29, High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
      Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. [] Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
  2. A medium for expression of talent or views.
  3. A liquid content (e.g. oil) which acts as a binding and drying agent in paint. (FM 55-501).
  4. (pharmaceuticals) The main excipient (such as an oil or gel) that conveys the active ingredient of a drug.
  5. An entity to achieve an end.
    • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, Killer robots should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:
      In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
  6. (Buddhism) A mode or method of spiritual practice; a yana.
  7. (Hinduism) An animal or (rarely) a plant on which a Hindu deity rides or sits

Synonyms

Hyponyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:vehicle

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations


Catalan

Noun

vehicle m (plural vehicles)

  1. vehicle

Related terms