lorry

lorry — noun

1. a big road vehicle built to transport goods, raw materials, or other heavy items

1.nounB1
Definition

a big road vehicle built to transport goods, raw materials, or other heavy items across different locations.

Example

A lorry carrying building supplies overturned on the motorway near Bristol this morning.

collocation: lorry carrying [goods]

Trang's father worked as a lorry driver for twenty years before retiring.

collocation: lorry driver

Common collocations
  • lorry driver
  • lorry load
  • delivery lorry
  • by lorry
  • lorry carrying
  • back of the lorry
Synonyms
  • truck

    the American English equivalent; also used in British English but more commonly for smaller vehicles

  • HGV

    formal abbreviation for 'heavy goods vehicle', used in official and professional contexts

  • haulage vehicle

    formal term used in the transport and logistics industry

Usage Note

This is the standard word in British English for a large goods vehicle on roads. In American English the equivalent is 'truck'. British English also uses 'truck' for smaller goods vehicles, but 'lorry' is preferred for the largest size.

Common Mistakes

The lorry honked its horn on the freeway in Los Angeles.
The truck honked its horn on the freeway in Los Angeles.
In American contexts, use 'truck' instead of 'lorry'.
Idioms

(fell) off the back of a lorry

idiom

a humorous way of saying that something was probably stolen, used especially when you do not want to say where it really came from.

Devika is selling brand-name phones for almost nothing — they probably fell off the back of a lorry.

off the back of a lorry

idiom

Goods that are said to have come from this source are likely stolen or obtained illegally.

Mia bought a new phone that supposedly fell off the back of a lorry.

Did that expensive watch really come off the back of a lorry?

Word family

  • lorry driver
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

In British English, 'lorry' is the most common everyday word for a large goods vehicle on roads. 'Truck' is the American equivalent and is also used in British English, though often for slightly smaller vehicles or in compound words like 'truck driver'. 'HGV' (heavy goods vehicle) is a formal, administrative term used in licensing, insurance, and the transport industry — you would not use it in casual conversation. A 'van' is much smaller than a lorry, typically used for delivering packages or carrying tools and equipment. For example, a builder drives a van to a job site, but the building materials arrive on a lorry.

lorry ↗truck ↗HGVvan ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • lorry driver
  • lorry load
  • lorry park
  • lorry traffic

Prepositions

Etymology

Englishdialectal English

The word 'lorry' first appeared in British English around the early 1800s. Its exact origin is uncertain, but it may come from the dialect verb 'lurry', meaning to pull or drag, which described how these early goods wagons were moved. Another theory connects it to the railway wagon called a 'lorry', a flat vehicle used to carry heavy loads on train tracks. By the late 19th century, the word passed from horse-drawn wagons to motorised goods vehicles.