Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A car which carries its own propelling mechanism, as an electric motor, pneumatic engine, steam-engine, etc., and is therefore a locomotive. Many such cars have sufficient power to draw other cars attached to them.
- noun A mechanically propelled vehicle or automobile. The term is used to include all classes of automobiles, from the racing-machine, in which speed is the prime requisite, to the commercial vehicle, in which speed is of no moment, but carrying capacity for loads is desired.
Etymologies
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Examples
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Dowsett and young Guggenhammer went away in one motor-car, and
Chapter II 2010
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The motor-car had broken down, and there, on the rugs which they had spread on the ground, lay the bodies of his sister, his mother, and himself.
Page 7 2010
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He toured with Glidden Auto Tours and was a founding member of the Friends of Ancient Road Transportation Society, which also crisscrossed the country on vintage motor-car tours.
C. Gordon Kirwan Jr., businessman, car enthusiast, dies at 84 2011
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And she in the motor-car, watching, saw the pair cross Market Street, cross the Slot, and disappear down Third Street into the labour ghetto.
SOUTH OF THE SLOT 2010
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During the morning's march his wife, who was walking, betrayed the fatal symptoms, and when she drew aside to let us go on, he insisted on leaving the motor-car and remaining with her.
Page 7 2010
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And so it was, as the time passed, that on occasion his red motor-car carried, in addition to the daily cash, the most gilt-edged securities he possessed; namely, the Ferry Company,
Chapter XX 2010
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You are now on the second speed, which you will no doubt observe is considerably faster than the lower speed … Remember that with a motor-car the driver controls the vehicle, and in this it differs from a horse-drawn vehicle, in which the driver is often at the mercy of the animal, to be pulled here, backed there, or upset altogether, should this chance to please the noble quadruped.
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If Bernie Ecclestone can make it more cost-effective for the likes of the Virgin brand to come into the sport, and if he can champion clean motor-car racing - which is possible to do by making sure all the cars run on clean fuels - then at some stage we might be interested in getting involved ...
Archive 2009-02-01 Gordon McCabe 2009
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Matters were not helped by the multitude of motor-car handbooks that exploded from publishers, who assumed one could be taught to drive from a book!
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Daylight, according to instructions, arrived in a private motor-car which had been furnished him.
Chapter II 2010
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