motorcar

[mˈotɚkˌɑr] /ˈmō-tər-ˌkär How to pronounce motorcar (audio)/ (ame, mw)

motorcar — noun

1. a road vehicle with an engine and four wheels, used for carrying people

1.名詞C1
釋義

a road vehicle with an engine and four wheels, used for carrying people

例句

Mateo polished the vintage motorcar before the town festival began.

collocation: vintage motorcar

A black motorcar waited outside the hotel for the visiting prince.

同義詞
  • car

    the normal everyday word in modern English for this kind of road vehicle

  • automobile

    a more formal or technical word, especially in North American usage

  • vehicle

    a broader term that can include buses, trucks, and other road transport

用法筆記

This word is now much less common than car in everyday English. You are most likely to see it in older writing, historical contexts, or formal descriptions.

常見錯誤

❌I parked my motorcar outside the mall.
✅I parked my car outside the mall.
💡In everyday modern English, people normally say 'car'; 'motorcar' sounds old-fashioned or formal.

2. a railway carriage that moves with its own motor instead of being pulled by a se

2.名詞C2
釋義

a railway carriage that moves with its own motor instead of being pulled by a separate engine

例句

Workers tested the new motorcar on the branch line before dawn.

context: rail branch line

The single motorcar carried commuters from the harbor to the hill station.

context: single self-powered rail vehicle

同義詞
  • railcar

    a close modern term for a railway vehicle that can move on its own or as a unit

  • carriage

    a more general railway term that does not imply the car has its own motor

  • tramcar

    used for a street-running electric rail vehicle, not for every railway motorcar

用法筆記

Usually names a single railway car with its own power. It does not refer to a full train or to an ordinary carriage that must be pulled by a locomotive.

常見錯誤

❌The engine pulled one motorcar behind it.
✅The engine pulled one carriage behind it.
💡A motorcar in this sense moves by its own motor, so it is not described as a car being hauled by another engine.