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vehicles - 2 dictionary results

ve⋅hi⋅cle

[vee-i-kuhl or, sometimes, vee-hi-]
–noun
1. any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport: a motor vehicle; space vehicles.
2. a conveyance moving on wheels, runners, tracks, or the like, as a cart, sled, automobile, or tractor.
3. a means of transmission or passage: Air is the vehicle of sound.
4. a carrier, as of infection.
5. a medium of communication, expression, or display: The novel is a fitting vehicle for his talents. Language is the vehicle of thought.
6. Theater, Movies. a play, screenplay, or the like, having a role suited to the talents of and often written for a specific performer.
7. a means of accomplishing a purpose: College is a vehicle for success.
8. Rhetoric. the thing or idea to which the subject of a metaphor is compared, as “rose” in “she is a rose.” Compare tenor (def. 3).
9. Pharmacology. a substance, usually fluid, possessing little or no medicinal action, used as a medium for active remedies.
10. Painting. a liquid, as oil, in which a pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.

Origin:
1605–15; < L vehiculum, equiv. to veh(ere) to convey + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2


Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the[h] in the second syllable tends to disappear:[vee-i-kuhl]. A pronunciation with primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced [h] is usually considered nonstandard: [vee-hik-uhl]. In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normally on the second syllable, the [h] is always pronounced.
ve·hi·cle   (vē'ĭ-kəl)   
n.  
    1. A device or structure for transporting persons or things; a conveyance: a space vehicle.
    2. A self-propelled conveyance that runs on tires; a motor vehicle.
  1. A medium through which something is transmitted, expressed, or accomplished: His novels are a vehicle for his political views.
  2. The concrete or specific word or phrase that is applied to the tenor of a metaphor and gives the metaphor its figurative power, as walking shadow in "Life's but a walking shadow" (Shakespeare).
  3. A play, role, or piece of music used to display the special talents of one performer or company.
  4. A substance of no therapeutic value used to convey an active medicine for administration.
  5. A substance, such as oil, in which paint pigments are mixed for application.

[Latin vehiculum, from vehere, to carry; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.]
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