What does lorry mean in British English?

motor truck
noun, plural lor·ries. Chiefly British. a motor truck, especially a large one. any of various conveyances running on rails, as for transporting material in a mine or factory. a long, low, horse-drawn wagon without sides.

What is lorry short for?

Origin of Lorry Lorry is a short form of Laura or Laurence.

Is a truck and a lorry the same thing?

The terms lorry and truck can be confusing for those not in the industry, but the reality is that both terms can be used interchangeably. ‘Truck’ is often used in American contexts while the word ‘lorry’ is more common in the United Kingdom.

What is lorry in American English?

a truck : an articulated lorry. a long-distance lorry driver.

Is lorry a British word?

In the lorry vs truck debate, each word has its own story, but why is lorry only used in the British vocabulary? The truth is, a lorry in American English is a truck. The British lorry is almost the same as the American truck, and the two words have morphed into synonyms of each other.

Where did the word lorry come from?

Lorry was originally the name for a flatbed cart pulled by horses and is from an old English word “lurry” which means “to drag”. Truck on the other hand is from the Latin “trochus” which is an iron hoop or wheel.

What do the British call a van?

Finally, the term van can sometimes be used interchangeably with what Australians usually call a caravan, which in the U.S. is referred to as a travel trailer. The British term people mover is also used in Australian English to describe a passenger van.

What makes a lorry a lorry?

The majority of people in the UK will use the word lorry interchangeably with the word truck or as the Oxford English Dictionary describes it: “a large, heavy motor vehicle for transporting goods or troops; a truck”. Yet some people argue that all lorries are trucks but not all trucks are lorries.

What do the British call an elevator?

lift
Everyone knows that for the Brits, an elevator is a “lift,” an apartment is a “flat,” and those chips you’re snacking on are actually called “crisps.”