trolley
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A streetcar or light train.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
trahleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɹɑli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
us
A streetcar or light train.
A trolley pole; a single-pole device for collecting electrical current from an overhead electrical line, normally for a tram/streetcar or a trolleybus.
A truck which travels along the fixed conductors in an electric railway, and forms a means of connection between them and a railway car.
A truck from which the load is suspended in some kinds of cranes.
british
A hand truck.
AustraliaNew ZealandBritishIreland
A cart or shopping cart; a shopping trolley.
verb
To use a trolley vehicle to go from one place to another.
To travel by trolley (streetcar, trolleybus or light train).
To bring to by trolley.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A streetcar or light train.
Used this way, trolley is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- tram , used mainly in Regional English
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use trolley
- “We rode the old trolley downtown to the market.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity.
A passenger bus with an electric motor that draws power from overhead wires.
A transit line using streetcars or trolley buses.
Serving cart for serving tea or light refreshments.
A passenger bus with an electric motor that draws power from overhead wires.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: streetcar or light train
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.