car

views updated Jun 08 2018

car / kär/ • n. a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people. ∎ a vehicle that runs on rails, esp. a railroad car. ∎ a railroad car of a specified kind: the first-class cars. ∎ the passenger compartment of an elevator, cableway, airship, or balloon. ∎ poetic/lit. a chariot.DERIVATIVES: car·ful / -ˌfoŏl/ n. (pl. -fuls) .

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

CAR

views updated May 14 2018

CAR The LISP function that when applied to a list yields the head of the list. The word was originally an acronym for contents of address register. Compare CDR.

A Dictionary of Computing JOHN DAINTITH

car

views updated May 11 2018

car XIV. ME. carre — AN., ONF. — Rom. *carra, pl. or parallel fem. form of L. carrum n., carrus m. (whence F. char, It. carro, etc.; cf. CHARIOT) — OCelt. *karrom (*karros), repr. by (O)Ir. carr, OW. carr (W. car), rel. to L. currus chariot.