amphibious vehicle
1
6.1
- noun
- /æmˈfɪbiəs ˈviːɪkl/
- Specialized
:
vehículo anfibio
- The tour included a ride in an amphibious vehicle that took us across the lake and onto the shore.
Examples
-
He's got one of them there amphibious vehicles.
-
The country produced machines of all kinds: trucks, jeeps, tanks, and amphibious vehicles.
Academic text (2005) -
Like the factories converted to wartime purpose, the amphibious vehicle originated as an instrument of peace instead of conflict.
Academic text (2005) -
If Romney does push emergency response to the private sector, I'm buying a fleet of those "Duck" amphibious vehicles, driven by a corps of Ferlinghetti's smiling morticians, and setting out for any NJ town with the word "bridge" in its name.
Blog text (24) -
For example, McKinnon's team has found an LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked—an amphibious vehicle introduced by the U.S. in World War II) with surprising evidence of battlefield modifications.
Academic text (2011) -
An amphibious vehicle can travel easily on both roads and water, making it ideal for rescue missions.
-
To explore the remote islands, we rented an amphibious vehicle that could handle the rocky terrain and the bay.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A flat-bottomed vehicle that can move on land and in water
A vehicle with big wheels and a high body for driving over marshes
How Amphibious
- Specialized
11
6.4
- Archaic
1
8.7
- Specialized
1
6.1
- Specialized
7
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'amphibious' means capable of functioning on both land and water and 'vehicle' denotes a machine for transport, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer a vehicle that operates on land and water. This follows a common noun–modifier pattern and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, making it immediately understandable at B1.
Etymology
Amphibious vehicle comes from the idea of animals that live on land and in water, like frogs. The part amphibious refers to 'both land and water' and vehicle is a machine, so the phrase means 'a vehicle that works on land and in water'.