elevator

elevator — noun

1. An enclosed car or platform that rides on vertical rails inside a building, carr

1.nounA2
Definition

An enclosed car or platform that rides on vertical rails inside a building, carrying riders or freight to upper or lower levels.

Example

Hoa pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive.

The elevator opened its doors and three people stepped out.

collocation: elevator doors

Common collocations
  • take the elevator
  • ride the elevator
  • elevator doors
  • elevator shaft
  • elevator button
  • service elevator
  • call the elevator
  • elevator music
Synonyms
  • lift

    British English equivalent; identical meaning

  • dumbwaiter

    a much smaller elevator used only for moving food or goods between floors, never passengers

Antonyms
  • stairs

    a fixed set of steps that people walk up or down instead of riding

Usage Note

In American English, 'elevator' is the standard word for this sense. British English uses 'lift' instead, though 'elevator' is widely understood there too.

Common Mistakes

I rode the elevator to upstairs.
I took the elevator upstairs.
'upstairs' is an adverb; no preposition is needed before it.
The elevator goes to the ground floor to the seventh floor.
The elevator goes from the ground floor to the seventh floor.
use 'from…to' to show a range.

2. A machine with a moving belt or chain that carries heavy materials like grain, c

2.nounB2
Definition

A machine with a moving belt or chain that carries heavy materials like grain, coal, or packaged goods upward from a lower level to a higher one.

Example

Workers loaded the bags onto the elevator that carried them into the aircraft.

collocation: loaded [bags] onto the elevator

The conveyor elevator carried boxes from the delivery dock up to the storage room.

collocation: conveyor elevator

Common collocations
  • bucket elevator
  • conveyor elevator
  • grain elevator
  • elevator belt
  • elevator bucket
Synonyms
  • conveyor

    a broader term for any system that moves materials continuously; not all conveyors lift vertically

  • bucket elevator

    a specific type of elevator that uses attached buckets to lift grain or other loose materials

Usage Note

This sense is often called a 'conveyor elevator' or 'bucket elevator' depending on the mechanism. It is a technical term used in shipping, agriculture, and heavy industry.

3. A flat, movable surface on the horizontal part of an aircraft's tail section. Wh

3.nounC1
Definition

A flat, movable surface on the horizontal part of an aircraft's tail section. When the pilot adjusts it, the nose of the plane tilts up or down, controlling the climb or descent.

Example

The pilot adjusted the elevator to bring the plane's nose up.

collocation: adjusted the elevator

A damaged elevator can make it hard to control the aircraft's pitch.

collocation: damaged elevator / control pitch

Common collocations
  • elevator control
  • elevator tab
  • elevator cable
  • adjust the elevator
  • elevator trim

Usage Note

An aviation term. The elevator works together with ailerons and the rudder to steer the aircraft. Do not confuse it with an 'elevon', which combines the functions of an elevator and an aileron on delta-wing aircraft.

4. A tall, tower-like structure on a farm or near a railway line, designed to hold

4.nounB2
Definition

A tall, tower-like structure on a farm or near a railway line, designed to hold large quantities of harvested grain and fitted with machinery to load, weigh, and unload it.

Example

The grain elevator stood tall beside the railway tracks.

collocation: grain elevator + stood beside [railway tracks]

Farmers brought their wheat to the elevator at harvest time.

Common collocations
  • grain elevator
  • wheat elevator
  • corn elevator
  • elevator operator
  • elevator storage
  • country elevator
Synonyms
  • grain silo

    a cylindrical storage container for grain; usually shorter and without the same conveyor machinery as a grain elevator

Usage Note

Grain elevators are common in agricultural regions such as the American Midwest and the Canadian prairies. Many historic grain elevators have been repurposed as apartments, museums, or art studios.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Elevator' and 'lift' refer to the same thing: an enclosed car that moves people between floors inside a building. 'Elevator' is the standard term in American English, while 'lift' is used in British English and many other English-speaking regions. An 'escalator' is a moving staircase with exposed steps that carries people in a continuous loop — it is not enclosed and does not travel vertically in a shaft. A 'dumbwaiter' is a very small elevator used only for moving goods such as food or luggage, never for passengers. Example: 'Take the elevator to the lobby, then ride the escalator up to the food court.'

elevator ↗lift ↗escalator ↗dumbwaiter

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • take the elevator
  • wait for the elevator
  • call the elevator
  • elevator music

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

From Latin 'elevare' (to lift up), formed from 'e-' (out, up) + 'levare' (to raise). The root 'levare' comes from 'levis', meaning light in weight. The word entered English in the 1640s with the general meaning 'one who raises something up.' The building-lift sense emerged in the 1850s after Elisha Otis demonstrated his safety elevator at the New York Crystal Palace exhibition, making tall buildings practical for everyday use.