truck

truck — noun

1. a motor vehicle with a large enclosed or open back section, built for moving hea

1.nounA2
Definition

a motor vehicle with a large enclosed or open back section, built for moving heavy loads, equipment, or supplies over roads

Example

A delivery truck brought boxes of fresh fruit to the supermarket this morning.

collocation: delivery truck

Ramón drives a truck that carries furniture across the country every week.

verb pattern: drive a truck + carries

Common collocations
  • delivery truck
  • dump truck
  • heavy truck
  • truck driver
  • truck company
  • truck stop
  • truck full of
Synonyms
  • lorry

    British English term; more common in the UK and Commonwealth countries for large goods vehicles

  • pickup

    a smaller truck with an open back area, used for personal or light commercial use

  • van

    a covered vehicle for transporting goods, typically smaller than a truck and used for local deliveries

Usage Note

In British English, the word 'lorry' is preferred in many contexts for this meaning, though 'truck' is also widely understood and increasingly common.

Common Mistakes

A truck of apples arrived at the store.
A truck full of apples arrived at the store.
Use 'truck full of' or 'truckload of' to describe what the truck is carrying, not 'truck of'.

2. a wheeled frame with handles, moved by a person to carry heavy or bulky items a

2.nounB1
Definition

a wheeled frame with handles, moved by a person to carry heavy or bulky items a short distance without a motor

Example

The hotel porter loaded suitcases onto a metal truck and pushed it to the elevator.

passive: loaded onto a truck

Faisal used a hand truck to move heavy boxes to the shop floor.

collocation: hand truck

Common collocations
  • hand truck
  • luggage truck
  • loading truck
  • push a truck
  • wheel a truck
  • stacked on a truck
Synonyms
  • handcart

    a similar wheeled vehicle pulled or pushed by hand, often with a flat platform

  • dolly

    a small platform on wheels, typically used for moving heavy appliances or boxes

Usage Note

Frequently called a 'hand truck' or 'handcart' to distinguish it from the motor vehicle. Common in warehouses, hotels, airports, and libraries.

3. a carriage on a railway train built for freight, livestock, or bulk materials ra

3.nounB1
Definition

a carriage on a railway train built for freight, livestock, or bulk materials rather than passengers

Example

The freight train had thirty trucks filled with coal and iron ore.

collocation: freight train + filled with

Several railway trucks carrying cattle arrived at the stockyard early in the morning.

Common collocations
  • railway truck
  • freight truck
  • cattle truck
  • coal truck
  • refrigerated truck
  • trucks filled with
Synonyms
  • freight car

    the standard American English term for a railway carriage that carries goods

  • wagon

    used in British English, especially for open railway carriages carrying bulk materials

Usage Note

This sense is primarily used in British and Commonwealth English. In American English, 'freight car' or 'railroad car' is more common for this meaning.

Idioms

have no truck with

idiom

to completely avoid having any involvement or connection with a person, activity, idea, or practice because you strongly disapprove of it

The school principal said she would have no truck with any form of bullying among students.

A journalist with high ethical standards has no truck with fake news or unreliable sources.

have/want no truck with somebody/something

idiom

To deliberately avoid any connection or involvement with a person or thing.

Maya wants no truck with dishonest business partners.

Our school has no truck with bullying in any form.

truck — verb

Word family

  • trucker
    nounB1
  • trucking
    nounB1
  • truckload
    nounB2
  • truckful
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While all these words refer to road vehicles that carry goods, they differ in size, design, and regional use. 'Truck' is the general term in American English for any motor vehicle that carries freight, ranging from a small pickup to an eighteen-wheel semi-trailer. 'Lorry' is the equivalent in British English, though 'truck' has become widely understood there too. 'Van' is a smaller, fully enclosed vehicle used mainly for local deliveries or passenger transport — a plumber might drive a van, but a logging company uses a truck. 'Pickup' (or pickup truck) has an open cargo bed behind the cab and is common for personal and light commercial use. 'Semi-trailer' refers specifically to the largest class of truck, consisting of a tractor unit pulling a detachable trailer. For example: 'Emre drives a pickup for his landscaping business, but the bricks are delivered by a semi-trailer.'

lorry ↗van ↗pickup ↗semi-trailer

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • by truck
  • truck full of
  • truck stop
  • truck driver
  • truck company

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinOld North FrenchEnglish

The word 'truck' entered English through two separate paths that later merged. The vehicle sense traces back through Latin 'trochus' (an iron hoop) to Greek 'trokhos' (a wheel), gaining its modern meaning as a wheeled vehicle in the 17th century. Meanwhile, the idiomatic phrase 'have no truck with' comes from a different root — Old French 'troque' meaning 'barter' or 'exchange' — which entered English in the 14th century as 'truck' meaning 'dealings or business'. The phrase preserves this older commercial sense even though the barter meaning has otherwise died out.