trailer

Everyday

1. A trailer is a wheeled box or platform pulled behind a car, truck or tractor to carry things or animals. tree →
2. A trailer is a short video showing bits of a film, show or game to make people want to watch it. tree →
3. (US, Canada) A trailer is a caravan or a mobile home that people live or holiday in. tree →
4. (verb, rare) To trailer something is to carry it on a trailer or to advertise it with a short clip. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life: towing a boat or horses, and watching film trailers before a cinema film. In maths problems a truck and trailer may carry loads, so its weight is added to the truck's. In stories about the USA, a «trailer park» is a place where people live in mobile homes. Phrases: «horse trailer», «film trailer», «movie trailer», «trailer park».

Examples

• Dad hooked the trailer onto the back of the car. tree →
• The horse stepped carefully into the trailer. tree →
• We watched the trailer for the new cartoon film. tree →
• The trailers before the movie lasted twenty minutes. tree →
• My cousin in Texas lives in a trailer near the lake. tree →
• The tractor pulled a trailer full of hay. tree →
• A truck weighs 3 tonnes and its trailer weighs 2 tonnes, so together they weigh 5 tonnes. tree →

Note

Countable: «a trailer», «two trailers». In the UK people say «caravan» for a holiday trailer; in the USA «trailer» or «RV». Comes from «trail», to drag behind. A film trailer comes before the film even though the word sounds like «after» – long ago they were shown after it.