vehicle

Etymology

Borrowed from French véhicule, from Latin vehiculum (“a carriage, conveyance”), from vehere (“to carry”).

noun

1. A conveyance; a device for carrying or transporting substances, objects or individuals.
   But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion
   Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.[…]Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge. 2013-06-29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28
   In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way. 2013-06-07, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6
2. A medium for expression of talent or views.
   supporting actors in a Steven Spielberg vehicle
3. A liquid content (e.g. oil) which acts as a binding and drying agent in paint.
4. (pharmaceuticals) The main excipient (such as an oil or gel) that conveys the active ingredient of a drug.
   an ointment with a petrolatum vehicle
5. An entity to achieve an end.
   mission service as a vehicle for development of better-rounded worldviews
6. (Buddhism) A mode or method of spiritual practice; a yana.
7. (Hinduism) An animal or (rarely) a plant on which a Hindu deity rides or sits.

verb

1. to transport in a vehicle, or as if in a vehicle
2. to travel in a vehicle