VEHICLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vehicle mean? 

• VEHICLE (noun)
  The noun VEHICLE has 4 senses:

1. a conveyance that transports people or objects

2. a medium for the expression or achievement of something

3. any substance that facilitates the use of a drug or pigment or other material that is mixed with it

4. any inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another

  Familiarity information: VEHICLE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VEHICLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A conveyance that transports people or objects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("vehicle" is a kind of...):

conveyance; transport (something that serves as a means of transportation)

Meronyms (parts of "vehicle"):

dashboard; splashboard; splasher (protective covering consisting of a panel to protect people from the splashing water or mud etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vehicle"):

bumper car; Dodgem (a small low-powered electrically powered vehicle driven on a special platform where there are many others to be dodged)

craft (a vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space)

military vehicle (vehicle used by the armed forces)

projectile; rocket (any vehicle self-propelled by a rocket engine)

skibob (a vehicle resembling a bicycle but having skis instead of wheels; the rider wears short skis for balancing)

sled; sledge; sleigh (a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow)

road roller; steamroller (vehicle equipped with heavy wide smooth rollers for compacting roads and pavements)

wheeled vehicle (a vehicle that moves on wheels and usually has a container for transporting things or people)

Derivation:

vehicular (of or relating to or intended for (motor) vehicles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A medium for the expression or achievement of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the play was just a vehicle to display her talents

Hypernyms ("vehicle" is a kind of...):

medium (a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any substance that facilitates the use of a drug or pigment or other material that is mixed with it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("vehicle" is a kind of...):

substance (a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

fomite; vehicle

Hypernyms ("vehicle" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

 Context examples 

They form 14-15 kDa proteins and at least 3 different FABPs play a role as transport vehicles of these hydrophobic compounds throughout the cytoplasm.

(FABP Family Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

The quantity and units of treatment vehicle used.

(Performed Substance Administration Treatment Vehicle Volume, NCI Thesaurus)

The reported name of an exposure treatment vehicle.

(Exposure Treatment Vehicle, NCI Thesaurus)

But the principal difficulty was to raise and place me in this vehicle.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Because of its ability to penetrate biological membranes, it is used as a vehicle for topical application of pharmaceuticals.

(Dimethyl sulfoxide, NCI Thesaurus)

Hannah soon had a lantern lit. The vehicle had stopped at the wicket; the driver opened the door: first one well-known form, then another, stepped out.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Looking out into the distance - instead of trying to read or look at something in the vehicle - can also help.

(Motion Sickness, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

They are used also as vehicles for other dermatologic agents.

(Emollient, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Wild-type AA-2 retains the ability to preferentially integrate its DNA into a 4 kilobase region of human chromosome 19, designated AAVS1, making it an attractive gene therapy vehicle.

(Adeno-Associated Virus Type 2, NCI Thesaurus)

Petrobras has been working on the development of pioneering technology for the production of biodiesel from microalgae—an alternative to oil-derived fuels used in cars or any other diesel-powered vehicles.

(Petrobras considers producing biodiesel from microalgae, Agência Brasil)