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streetcar

streetcar

32 3.0
A vehicle that runs on tracks in city streets and carries people
  • noun
  • /ˈstritˌkɑr/
  • US
translation icon : tranvía
  • But now Jolie-Gray takes them on streetcar rides all over town.
  • streetcar line
  • streetcar conductor
  • electric streetcar

But then they're also again, like riding the Chicago subway, streetcar, whatever you call it in the dead of night, like they're in their cars blasting the radio.

Examples

  • So how often do the streetcars come around this time?

  • Today she came off the streetcar with a big fat grin.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I can just take the streetcar... -you stay and rest.

  • You made me ride the whole streetcar line.

  • - I must have left it on the streetcar.

  • I'll go to the library on the streetcar.

  • There's a streetcar stop on the corner.

  • There had been streetcars here once on this center strip of grass.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Going into Boston, I'd take the streetcar and he'd appear as the suburban landscape rattled past.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Every morning, Becky Porter hustles to catch the 7:34 streetcar to her job in downtown Portland.

Synonyms

trolley
vsstreetcar
  • US
32 2.5

A rail vehicle that uses electricity to carry people in a city

is the general term for electric rail transport in streets
tram
vsstreetcar
  • UK
26 1.3

A vehicle like a small train that runs on tracks in a city or mine

is limited to electric passenger vehicles running on public streets
trolley car
vsstreetcar
  • US
2 3.8

A vehicle that runs on tracks in city streets using electricity

is the same type of electric street vehicle used for local passenger travel
tramcar
vsstreetcar
  • UK
1 3.4

An electric car that runs on city tracks to carry people

has the same electric urban rail meaning used along public roads
horsecar
vsstreetcar
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A vehicle like a tram pulled by horses on city tracks

depends on electric power rather than animal traction for urban street service

Compounds

1 3.3

Rails in a city that trams run on

How High

viaduct
6 7.2
streetcar
  • US
32 3.0

Surface Forms

streetcar singular
streetcars plural

Morphology

streetcar = street + car (transparent) = street + car

The meaning is a direct, literal combination of 'street' + 'car' (a vehicle that runs on streets), so learners who know the base words can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Streetcar comes from the two simple words street ('road in a town') and car ('wheeled vehicle'), and car is like cart and carriage which also mean vehicles. So a streetcar is literally a vehicle for the street — a city vehicle that runs on rails to carry passengers.