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Glite Dictionary
hand truck

hand truck

3 2.9
A small cart with two wheels and handles for moving heavy things
  • noun
  • /hænd trʌk/
  • US
translation icon : carretilla
  • The mover strapped the refrigerator-sized crate to his hand truck and tilted it back to engage the wheels.
  • Get a hand truck

So I want to build it in a way that I can have the hand truck or the trailer work on its own and have a system to get the toolkit off by myself.

Examples

  • Carlo rights the hand truck, hooks a saline bag to it, and wheels it toward the slatted gate.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • My father loaded my suitcase onto a little hand truck, along with two heavy plastic crates.

  • "Let me have the hand truck."

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The hand truck was upright beside me.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • He tied down the hand truck, but not the appliances.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The best solution would be to utilize a dolly or hand truck (A), eliminating the hazard.

    Blog text (4)

  • The hand truck is wheeling toward us now, along the long hall, and we see that it is a lectern—as big as a pulpit—strapped to it.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Well, that lady down at the Wentworth's needs a hand truck or some kind of dolly.

Synonyms

cart
vshand truck
297 1.0

A small vehicle with wheels that you push or pull to carry things

is the specific two wheel tilt and push method for heavy items
truck
vshand truck
  • US
72 3.0

Small cart with two wheels and handles for moving heavy boxes

is tilted backward and pushed on its wheels to carry heavy items
wheelbarrow
vshand truck
24 1.0

A small cart with one front wheel and two handles for carrying small loads

uses two low wheels and tilts backward for larger heavy items
trolley
vshand truck
  • UK
8 1.0

A cart on wheels used for carrying shopping or luggage

is made for many small items and pushed on four or more wheels
dolly
vshand truck
7 3.5

A small platform on wheels for moving heavy things like boxes or furniture

uses a tilted two-wheel design rather than a flat platform for movement
pushcart
vshand truck
6 3.4

A small cart with wheels that you push by hand to carry goods

is designed for heavy items and moved by tilting on two wheels
handcart
vshand truck
3 3.1

A small wheeled cart pushed by hand to carry things

is specifically used by tilting and using two wheels for heavy loads
barrow
vshand truck
  • UK
1 6.2

A small cart with one wheel and two handles for carrying things

uses two low wheels and tilt action for heavier loads rather than single wheel

How Heavy-Duty

forklift
25 3.9
jack
27 4.8
hand truck
  • US
3 2.9
dolly
7 3.5

Surface Forms

hand truck singular
hand trucks plural

Morphology

hand + truck

The compound 'hand truck' is transparently built from 'hand' (indicating manual/hand operation) + 'truck' (a small cart), so the meaning 'a small hand-operated cart for moving objects' is directly compositional and predictable. The noun–noun compounding pattern and equivalents like 'handcart' or 'hand trolley' exist cross-linguistically, making this easily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Hand truck shows its use: it is a small two-wheeled cart you lift a little and push by hand. The words hand and truck give a clear picture—your hands moving a small vehicle—so the name means 'a tool for moving heavy things'.