dinosaur of a car
- noun
- Informal
:
coche viejo
- Her first vehicle was such a dinosaur of a car that it barely started in the morning.
Examples
-
He finally traded in his dinosaur of a car for something more reliable.
-
My grandfather drives a dinosaur of a car from the 80s.
-
Everyone could hear the engine of that dinosaur of a car coming down the street.
-
That old sedan is a real dinosaur of a car.
-
He finally traded in his dinosaur of a car for something more reliable.
-
Everyone could hear the engine of that dinosaur of a car coming down the street.
-
My grandfather drives a dinosaur of a car from the 80s.
Synonyms
3
5.2
An old car that is worn out and often breaks down
2
7.2
An object, custom, or idea from long ago that seems out of date
1
8.6
An old-fashioned person or thing that is out of date
An old car that often breaks down and is not reliable
A person or thing that is very old-fashioned and not useful today
Antonyms
How Outdated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The metaphorical use of 'dinosaur' to mean something ancient or outdated is directly applicable to 'car', so a learner who knows 'dinosaur' and 'car' can infer 'an old/outdated car'. The linking words 'of a' do not obscure meaning, and this type of metaphorical extension is common across languages, making the phrase immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The phrase dinosaur of a car comes from imagining an old car as a dinosaur — big, slow and from a long time ago. That's why people use it to mean 'an old or out-of-date car'.