trailer

/ˈtreɪlər/

/ˈtreɪlə/

Other forms: trailers

A trailer is a wheeled vehicle that can't move on its own — it needs to be pulled by a car, truck, or other vehicle. Some bike-riding parents tow their small children behind them in bicycle trailers.

The trailer you might put a boat on, hitching it to your truck, trails behind the vehicle that's pulling it. Another meaning of trailer is a film preview or advertisement that theaters show before a movie. It might seem strange to call it a trailer when it comes first, but the earliest trailers, at the start of the 20th century, came after the movie, trailing it.

Definitions of trailer

1. noun

   a large transport conveyance designed to be pulled by a truck or tractor
   types:

   car carrier

   a trailer that can be loaded with new cars for delivery to sales agencies

   semi, semitrailer

   a trailer having wheels only in the rear; the front is supported by the towing vehicle

   type of:

   conveyance, transport

   something that serves as a means of transportation
2. noun

   a wheeled vehicle that can be pulled by a car or truck and is equipped for occupancy
   synonyms: house trailer

   types:

   camper trailer

   a trailer equipped for occupancy (especially for holiday trips)

   manufactured home, mobile home

   a large house trailer that can be connected to utilities and can be parked in one place and used as permanent housing

   type of:

   wheeled vehicle

   a vehicle that moves on wheels and usually has a container for transporting things or people
3. noun

   an advertisement consisting of short scenes from a motion picture that will appear in the near future
   synonyms: preview, prevue

   type of:

   ad, advert, advertisement, advertising, advertizement, advertizing

   a public promotion of some product or service
4. noun

   someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
   synonyms: dawdler, drone, laggard, lagger, poke

   types:

   lingerer, loiterer

   someone who lingers aimlessly in or about a place

   plodder, slowcoach, slowpoke, stick-in-the-mud

   someone who moves slowly

   potterer, putterer

   a person who putters about

   straggler, strayer

   someone who strays or falls behind

   type of:

   bum, do-nothing, idler, layabout, loafer

   person who does no work