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crate

 - 4 dictionary results

crate

[kreyt] noun, verb, crat⋅ed, crat⋅ing.
–noun
1. a slatted wooden box or framework for packing, shopping, or storing fruit, furniture, glassware, crockery, etc.
2. any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.
3. Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, esp. an automobile: They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.
4. a quantity, esp. of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 ft. (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 m): a crate of oranges.
–verb (used with object)
5. to pack in a crate.

Origin:
1350–1400; 1915–20 for def. 3; ME, obscurely akin to L crātis wickerwork, hurdle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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crate   (krāt)   
n.  
  1. A container, such as a slatted wooden case, used for storing or shipping.

  2. Slang An old rickety vehicle, especially a decrepit automobile or aircraft.

tr.v.   crat·ed, crat·ing, crates
To pack into a container, such as a slatted wooden case.

[Latin crātis, wickerwork.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
crate

  1. n.
    a dilapidated vehicle. : This crate gets me to work and back. That's good enough.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

crate 
1688, from L. cratis "wickerwork, lattice," or from Du. krat "basket."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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