Adjacent Words

carrier definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone whose employment involves carrying something; "the bonds were transmitted by carrier" [syn: carrier, bearer, toter]
2: a self-propelled wheeled vehicle designed specifically to carry something; "refrigerated carriers have revolutionized the grocery business"
3: a large warship that carries planes and has a long flat deck for takeoffs and landings [syn: aircraft carrier, carrier, flattop, attack aircraft carrier]
4: an inactive substance that is a vehicle for a radioactive tracer of the same substance and that assists in its recovery after some chemical reaction
5: a person or firm in the business of transporting people or goods or messages [syn: carrier, common carrier]
6: a radio wave that can be modulated in order to transmit a signal [syn: carrier wave, carrier]
7: a man who delivers the mail [syn: mailman, postman, mail carrier, letter carrier, carrier]
8: a boy who delivers newspapers [syn: carrier, newsboy]
9: (medicine) a person (or animal) who has some pathogen to which he is immune but who can pass it on to others [syn: carrier, immune carrier]
10: a rack attached to a vehicle; for carrying luggage or skis or the like
11: (genetics) an organism that possesses a recessive gene whose effect is masked by a dominant allele; the associated trait is not apparent but can be passed on to offspring

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. one that carries ; bearer, messenger 2. a. an individual or organization engaged in transporting passengers or goods for hire b. a transportation line carrying mail between post offices c. a postal employee who delivers or collects mail d. one that delivers newspapers e. an entity (as a hole or an electron) capable of carrying an electric charge 3. a. a container for carrying b. a device or machine that carries ; conveyor 4. aircraft carrier 5. a. a bearer and transmitter of a causative agent of an infectious disease; especially one who carries the causative agent of a disease systemically but is asymptomatic or immune to it b. an individual (as one heterozygous for a recessive trait) having a specified gene that is not expressed or only weakly expressed in its phenotype 6. a. a usually inactive accessory substance ; vehicle <a carrier for a drug or an insecticide> b. a substance (as a catalyst) by whose agency some element or group is transferred from one compound to another 7. a. an electromagnetic wave or alternating current whose modulations are used as communications signals (as in radio, telephonic, or telegraphic transmissions) b. a telecommunication company 8. an organization acting as an insurer

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a person or thing that carries. 2 a person or company undertaking to convey goods or passengers for payment. 3 = carrier bag. 4 a part of a bicycle etc. for carrying luggage or a passenger. 5 a person or animal that may transmit a disease or a hereditary characteristic without suffering from or displaying it. 6 = aircraft-carrier. 7 a substance used to support or convey a pigment, a catalyst, radioactive material, etc. 8 Physics a mobile electron or hole that carries a charge in a semiconductor. Phrases and idioms: carrier bag Brit. a disposable plastic or paper bag with handles. carrier pigeon a pigeon trained to carry messages tied to its neck or leg. carrier wave a high-frequency electromagnetic wave modulated in amplitude or frequency to convey a signal.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Carrier Car"ri*er, n. [From Carry.] 1. One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger. The air which is but . . . a carrier of the sounds. --Bacon. 2. One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster. The roads are crowded with carriers, laden with rich manufactures. --Swift. 3. (Mach.) That which drives or carries; as: (a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the face plate; a lathe dog. (b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine. (c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel. Carrier pigeon (Zo["o]l.), a variety of the domestic pigeon used to convey letters from a distant point to to its home. Carrier shell (Zo["o]l.), a univalve shell of the genus Phorus; -- so called because it fastens bits of stones and broken shells to its own shell, to such an extent as almost to conceal it. Common carrier (Law.) See under Common, a.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(carriers) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A carrier is a vehicle that is used for carrying people, especially soldiers, or things. There were armoured personnel carriers and tanks on the streets... N-COUNT see also aircraft carrier 2. A carrier is a passenger airline. Switzerland's national carrier, Swissair, has been having a hard time recently. N-COUNT 3. A carrier is a person or an animal that is infected with a disease and so can make other people or animals ill. ...an AIDS carrier. ...carriers of disease such as mosquitoes and worms. N-COUNT: usu n N, N of n

Moby Thesaurus

Aquarius, Ganymede, Hebe, Hermes, Iris, Mercury, Paul Revere, Pheidippides, advocate, aerial infection, airborne infection, aircraft, aircraft carrier, alpenstock, arm, athletic supporter, back, backbone, backing, bandeau, bearer, bheesty, biological vector, bra, brace, bracer, bracket, brassiere, busboy, buttress, caddie, cane, cargo handler, carriage, carrier pigeon, carrier wave, carter, cervix, commissionaire, common carrier, communicability, contagion, contagiousness, contamination, conveyance, conveyer, coolie, corset, courier, crook, crutch, cryptogenic infection, cupbearer, diplomatic courier, direct infection, drayman, droplet infection, dust infection, electric wave, electromagnetic wave, emissary, envoy, epidemiology, estafette, express, expressman, flattop, foundation garment, freighter, fulcrum, girdle, go-between, ground wave, gun bearer, guy, guywire, hand infection, hauler, hertzian wave, high-frequency wave, homer, homing pigeon, indirect infection, infection, infectiousness, internuncio, jock, jockstrap, letter carrier, litter-bearer, long wave, low-frequency wave, mail car, mail coach, mail packet, mail train, mail truck, mailer, mailplane, mainstay, maintainer, mast, mechanical vector, medium of transportation, message-bearer, messenger, microwave, neck, nuncio, packet boat, phytogenic infection, pigeon post, porter, post, post boat, post car, post coach, post-horse, post-office car, postboy, poster, postrider, primary infection, prop, pyogenic infection, radio wave, railway mail car, redcap, reinforce, reinforcement, reinforcer, rest, resting place, rigging, runner, seaplane carrier, secondary infection, shield-bearer, shipper, shortwave, shoulder, shroud, sky wave, skycap, spine, sprit, staff, standing rigging, stave, stay, stevedore, stick, stiffener, strengthener, stretcher-bearer, subclinical infection, support, supporter, sustainer, taint, the Water Bearer, transmitter, transporter, truck driver, trucker, upholder, vector, vehicle, virus, wagoner, walking stick, water boy, water carrier, waterborne infection, watercraft, wavelength, zoogenic infection