bumper car
7
2.1
- noun
- /ˈbʌmpər kɑr/
:
coche de choque
- At the amusement park, we spent the afternoon riding the bumper cars and enjoying the fun.
- ride the bumper cars
- playing bumper cars
- drive the bumper cars
Examples
-
Others of us seem content to live at the carnival -- eating junk food, playing games in hopes of winning a cheap stuffed animal, riding the rides, banging into others in the bumper cars.
Blog text (12) -
I got a hot dog and went over to where Keys had set up a little carnival: a small Ferris wheel, a few battered bumper cars, a pony ride, and some clowns who vaguely scared me the way clowns had always vaguely frightened me.
Fiction book (1999) -
- If she wants to do bumper cars, she can.
-
Um, should we go on those bumper cars?
-
I'll ride the bumper cars with you.
-
Daniel: I love the bumper cars.
-
You can't go to a carnival and not ride the bumper cars!
-
Ned's bumper car catches up with Milo, pulling alongside.
Fiction book (1993) -
They smelled of metal and electricity, like bumper cars at the carnival.
Fiction book (2000) -
The children laughed and squealed as they crashed into each other on the bumper cars.
Synonyms
1
8.4
A small electric car at a fair that people drive to bump into other cars
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'bumper' (a protective impact-absorbing bar) + 'car' (a vehicle): a car associated with bumping/impact protection used for amusement. This noun–noun composition follows a common, literal compounding pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the intended amusement-park vehicle.
Etymology
Bumper car gets its name from the thick rubber bumper on each small car, because riders drive them around and deliberately 'bump' into one another. So the name now means a low-speed electric ride where people bump into each other for fun.