trailer

/ˈtɹeɪlə(ɹ)//ˈtɹeɪlɚ/

trailer noun: someone who or something that trails (follows behind); something that is trailing.

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

trailer (plural trailers)

Someone who or something that trails (follows behind); something that is trailing.
- There were vehicles following me, of course, but was any of them trailing me? […] Without any warning, and without signalling with the trafficator, I took a sudden right turn, hoping to shake off my trailer.2014, Chris Ekpekurede, Laughing Over Serious Matters: Stories to Make You Laugh and Reflect
Part of an object which extends some distance beyond the main body of the object.
- the trailer of a plant
Synonyms:

appendage, attachment, appendix, extension, extrusion
An unpowered wheeled vehicle (not a caravan or camper) that is towed behind another, and used to carry equipment, etc., that cannot be carried in the leading vehicle.
- At the end of the day, we put the snowmobiles back on the trailer.
- My trailer is a Highlander T-14 8G, one of the smallest trailers. I normally use it for carrying a pair of Sunfish sailboats that are much lighter than its 800-pound weight limit.1980 April, Greg Stone, “Utility hauling? Do it with your boat trailer”, in Popular Science, page 104
(US) A furnished vehicle towed behind another, and used as a dwelling when stationary.
- We drove our trailer to Yellowstone Park.
Synonyms:

camper, caravan, travel trailer
(US) A prefabricated home that could be towed to a new destination but is typically permanently left in an area designated for such homes.
- The young couple′s first home was in a trailer.
Synonyms:

mobile home
(US) A preview of a film, video game or TV show.
- The trailer for that movie makes it seem like it would be fun.
Synonyms:

preview, teaser
A short blank segment of film at the end of a reel, for convenient insertion of the film in a projector.
The final record of a list of data items, often identified by a key field with an otherwise invalid value that sorts last alphabetically (e.g., “ZZZZZ”) or numerically (“99999”); especially common in the context of punched cards, where the final card is called a trailer card.
- The linked list terminates with a trailer record.
Synonyms:

sentinel
The last part of a packet, often containing a check sequence.
- The encapsulation layer adds an eight-byte header and a two-byte trailer to each packet.
Antonyms:

header

Verb

trailer (third-person singular simple present trailers, present participle trailering, simple past and past participle trailered)

To load on a trailer or to transport by trailer.
- The engine wouldn't run any more so we had to trailer my old car to the wrecking yard.

trailer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

trailer in Hindi

ट्रेलर

trailer in Tamil

இழுவை வண்டி, மாட்டுவண்டி, முன்னோட்டம், பின்தொடர்ந்து வருபவர்

trailer in Marathi

ट्रेलर, ट्रेलरिंग, ट्रेलरला

trailer in Urdu

ٹریلر, ٹرائلر

More languagesFewer languages

trailer in Bengali: লতা, আনুগমিক
trailer in Telugu: ట్రేలర్, ట్రైలరు, ట్రైలర్ను
trailer in Malayalam: ട്രെയിലർ, ട്രെയ്ലർ, ട്രെയിലറിംഗ്
trailer in Kannada: ಹಿಂಗಾಡಿ
trailer in Punjabi: ਟ੍ਰੇਲਰ, ਟਰੇਲਰ
trailer in Gujarati: ટ્રેલર
trailer in Odia: ଟ୍ରେଲର୍, ଟ୍ରେଲର, ଟ୍ରେଲର୍ିଂ
trailer in Nepali: ट्रेलर, ट्रेलरिङ
trailer in Arabic: مَقْطُورَة maqṭūra, تَشْوِيقَة tašwīqa
trailer in Malay: pratonton, previu, treler
trailer in Indonesian: pracuplik, trailer
trailer in Vietnamese: rơ-moóc

Examples of trailer in a sentence

The freight shifted and the trailer turned over on the highway.
When towing a trailer, use the turnouts to let faster traffic pass.
He was trying to hop a ride in an empty trailer headed north.

All 40 example sentences with trailer

Synonyms of trailer

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

header

All synonyms and antonyms of trailer

Forms of trailer

Noun
plural	trailers
Verb
third-person singular present	trailers
present participle	trailering
past participle	trailered
past	trailered

Plural of trailer: trailers

Origin of trailer

From trail + -er. The film sense derives from the fact that previews were formerly shown after the main feature, rather than before as is usual today, that is trailing after the main feature.

Words formed from trailer

Phrases with trailer

Words that rhyme with trailer

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about trailer

What does trailer mean?: Trailer means someone who or something that trails (follows behind); something that is trailing.
What is trailer in Hindi?: Trailer in Hindi is ट्रेलर. See Trailer meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is trailer?: Trailer can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce trailer?: Trailer is pronounced /ˈtɹeɪlə(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of trailer?: The plural of trailer is trailers.

Words near trailer in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: trailer (page history and authors); trailer (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); trailer (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); trailer (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); trailer (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trailer (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-trailer.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-trailer.wav.

Cite this entry: “trailer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trailer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.