CARRIER


Meaning of CARRIER in English

I. ˈkarēə(r) also ˈker- noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English cariere, from carien to carry + -ere -er

1. : one that carries : bearer , messenger

the air is but … a carrier of the sounds — Francis Bacon

2.

a. : an individual, partnership, corporation, or any organization engaged in transporting passengers or goods for hire by land, water, or air ; specifically : common carrier

b. : a transportation line holding a government contract for carrying mail between post offices

c. : a postal employee who delivers or collects mail

a rural carrier

d. : a worker who transfers materials, equipment, or products from one part of an establishment to another — called also distributor

e. : one that delivers newspapers to subscribers on a specified route — called also newsboy

3. : carrier pigeon

4. : a device for holding something while it is carried: as

a. : a conduit or drain for conveying liquids or gases

b. : a receptacle made of wood, metal, or paperboard used to ship small containers (as baskets for fruits and vegetables) — compare crate

c. : a frame or a box attached to a vehicle (as a bicycle or automobile) for carrying objects securely or conveniently

d. : a device or machine part that carries or drives another part: as

(1) : conveyer 2a

(2) : dog 3d

e. railroading

(1) : a grooved roller that works in a stand and that supports and permits the longitudinal movement of a signal pipeline

(2) : a device for supporting and guiding a wire line used in signaling

5.

a. : a boat that takes the catch from a fishing fleet to market

b. : aircraft carrier

6. usually capitalized

a. : an Athapaskan people of south-central British Columbia

b. : a member of such people

7. usually capitalized : the language of the Carrier people

8.

a. : a person, animal, or plant that harbors and disseminates the specific microorganism or other agent causing an infectious disease from which it has recovered or to which it is immune and that may therefore become a spreader of a disease

carrier of a typhoid fever

carrier of plant viruses

— compare reservoir , vector

b. : an individual possessing a specified gene and capable of transmitting it to offspring but not of showing its typical expression ; especially : one that is heterozygous for a recessive factor

9. : a usually inactive substance used in association with an active substance especially for aiding in the application of the active substance: as

a. : a support for a catalyst

b. : an insoluble substance used in the preparation of certain pigments as a base upon which to precipitate the coloring matter

c. : a dyeing assistant that penetrates the textile fibers and aids diffusion and absorption of the dye

d. : a chemical element (as a stable isotope) or a compound associated with a radioactive element (as for giving a ponderable quantity for use in reactions)

e. : a vehicle serving especially as a diluent (as for an insecticide or a drug)

10.

a. : a substance (as a catalyst) by whose agency some element or group is transferred from one compound to another

iron is a carrier of oxygen

b. : a fertilizer or fertilizer component considered as a source of a plant nutrient

ammonium nitrate is a nitrogen carrier

11. : carrier's stamp

12.

a. : a spool or bobbin holder in a braiding machine

b. : a yarn feeder in a machine knitting full-fashioned hosiery

13. or carrier current or carrier wave : an electric wave or alternating current whose modulations are used as signals in radio, television, telephonic, or telegraphic transmission

14. : an organization acting as an underwriter or insurer

II. noun

: an entity (as a hole or an electron) capable of carrying an electric charge

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.