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, especially an automobile: They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.
4.
a quantity, especially of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 foot (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 meters): a crate of oranges.
verb (used with object)
5.
to pack in a crate.
00:10
Crates is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Origin:
1350–1400; 1915–20 for def 3; Middle English, obscurely akin to Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle

Related forms
re·crate, verb (used with object), re·crat·ed, re·crat·ing.
un·crate, verb (used with object), un·crat·ed, un·crat·ing.
un·crat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
crate (kreɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a fairly large container, usually made of wooden slats or wickerwork, used for packing, storing, or transporting goods
2.  slang an old car, aeroplane, etc
 
—vb
3.  (tr) to pack or place in a crate
 
[C16: from Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle]
 
'crater
 
—n
 
'crateful
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

crate
1688, from L. cratis "wickerwork, lattice," or from Du. krat "basket."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

crate definition


  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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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

crates

ancient Greek actor and author of comedies. He is considered one of the lesser poets of Attic Old Comedy; his contemporaries were Cratinus and Aristophanes.

Learn more about Crates with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences from the web
All their worldly goods and his library were moved about in huge trunks and crates.
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