Vehicle - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Vehicle :  (noun)
1: a conveyance that transports people or objects
2: a medium for the expression or achievement of something; "his editorials provided a vehicle for his political views"; "a congregation is a vehicle of group identity"
3: any inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another [syn: fomite]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Vehicle : \Ve"hi*cle\, n. [L. vehiculum, fr. vehere to carry; akin to E. way, wain. See Way, n., and cf. Convex, Inveigh, Veil, Vex.] 1. That in or on which any person or thing is, or may be, carried, as a coach, carriage, wagon, cart, car, sleigh, bicycle, etc.; a means of conveyance; specifically, a means of conveyance upon land.

2. That which is used as the instrument of conveyance or communication; as, matter is the vehicle of energy.

A simple style forms the best vehicle of thought to a popular assembly. --Wirt.

3. (Pharm.) A substance in which medicine is taken.

4. (Paint.) Any liquid with which a pigment is applied, including whatever gum, wax, or glutinous or adhesive substance is combined with it.

Note: Water is used in fresco and in water-color painting, the colors being consolidated with gum arabic; size is used in distemper painting. In oil painting, the fixed oils of linseed, nut, and poppy, are used; in encaustic, wax is the vehicle. --Fairholt.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Vehicle : \Ve"hi*cle\, n. (Chem.) A liquid used to spread sensitive salts upon glass and paper for use in photography.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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