What does "carrier" mean?
A person or object that carries someone or something else.
Carrier
/ˈkæɹ.ɪ.ə/ name, noun
name, noun ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person or object that carries someone or something else.
- Grammar: carrier is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: bearer, carrier wave, advocate, aerial infection.
- Useful contrasts: baseband signal, customer, demodulated signal.
- Usage evidence: Impure drinking water can be a carrier of diseases.
How to use "carrier"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "carrier" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "carrier" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "carrier" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "carrier" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "carrier" is acting as name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bearer" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "carrier", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person or object that carries someone or something else.
"armored personnel carrier"
- 2 Synonym of English Carrier.
- 3 (genetics) an organism that possesses a recessive gene whose effect is masked by a dominant allele; the associated trait is not apparent but can be passed on to offspring wordnet
- 4 A person or object that carries someone or something else.; Ellipsis of aircraft carrier. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"Two weeks later, I reported to Pensacola, Florida, for duty aboard CV-48, the USS Saipan, a boxy old carrier the Navy retired from fleet duty and reassigned for use in training."
- 5 a large warship that carries planes and has a long flat deck for takeoffs and landings wordnet
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 A person or object that carries someone or something else.; Ellipsis of aircraft carrier.; A starship designed to carry starfighters broadly
"And each was hideously powerful: an attack carrier could destroy a world, a force of cruisers and spinship destroyers could destroy a sun."
- 7 a rack attached to a vehicle; for carrying luggage or skis or the like wordnet
- 8 A person or object that carries someone or something else.; Ellipsis of carrier bag. UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 9 a self-propelled wheeled vehicle designed specifically to carry something wordnet
- 10 A carrier pigeon.
- 11 a person or firm in the business of transporting people or goods or messages wordnet
- 12 A person or company in the business of shipping freight.
"The roads [are] crowded with carriers, laden with rich manufactures."
- 13 (medicine) a person (or animal) who has some pathogen to which they are immune but who can pass it on to others wordnet
- 14 A signal such as radio, sound, or light that is modulated to transmit information.
- 15 a boy who delivers newspapers wordnet
- 16 A mobile network operator; wireless carrier.
- 17 someone whose employment involves carrying something wordnet
- 18 A certified airline.
"Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, is installing seats with less cushion and thinner materials — a svelte model known in the business as “slim-line.”"
- 19 a person who delivers the mail wordnet
- 20 That which drives or carries.; A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the faceplate; a lathe dog.
- 21 a radio wave that can be modulated in order to transmit a signal wordnet
- 22 That which drives or carries.; A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine.
- 23 an inactive substance that is a vehicle for a radioactive tracer of the same substance and that assists in its recovery after some chemical reaction wordnet
- 24 That which drives or carries.; A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel.
- 25 That which drives or carries.; A movable piece in a planetary gear train.
- 26 That which drives or carries.; Part of a differential gear assembly that holds gears and their bearings. especially
- 27 A catalyst or other intermediary in a chemical reaction.
- 28 A person or other organism that has a genetic trait, mutation or infection liable to cause a disease, but displays no symptoms.
- 29 A charge carrier.
- 30 A liquid or gas used as a medium for another substance.
"Linseed oil is often used as the carrier for pigment in oil painting."
Proper Noun
- 1 A Northern Athabaskan language spoken in Canada. Sometimes considered to be three separate languages: Southern Carrier, Northern Carrier and Central Carrier. countable, uncountable
- 2 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 3 A small town in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States; from the surname. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Impure drinking water can be a carrier of diseases."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "carrier"?
Common synonyms include: bearer, carrier wave, advocate, aerial infection, airborne infection, aircraft.
How do you use "carrier" in a sentence?
Impure drinking water can be a carrier of diseases.
How do you pronounce "carrier"?
Pronounced /ˈkæɹ.ɪ.ə/.
Etymology
From Middle English cariere, partly from carien + -ere, after Anglo-Norman carier, cariour, and partly directly from Anglo-Norman. By surface analysis, carry + -er.