shopping cart

noun

1

: a metal or plastic cart with four small wheels that is used for holding merchandise when shopping (as at a supermarket or department store)

… about the only amenities besides the jumbo-sized shopping carts are a few flatbed dollies to allow shoppers to get large appliances like refrigerators and washing machines to the cash register and then out to the parking lot.

—Jean Crichton

2

: a temporary record of items selected for eventual purchase from an online vendor's website

To set up shop on the Internet, you need a commerce-enabled Web site, which includes the electronic shopping cart; a connection to the credit card network; and finally, a merchant account …

—Tom Negrino

Delivery charges are the No. 1 reason shoppers abandon a virtual shopping cart, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Every Internet shopper has a shipping-charge horror story.

—Ellen Neuborn

Examples of shopping cart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The American supermarket, with its endless array of products and innovations like the shopping cart and barcodes, has achieved an almost mythical status around the world. — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026

Prepare your red shopping cart for battle, because the frozen aisles are often the most crowded and the rules of society suspend! — Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 Aug. 2026

This cute and sweet mini shirtdress is currently sitting in my virtual shopping cart, ready to be bought. — Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 12 Aug. 2026

One of the easiest places to start is with what’s in your shopping cart. — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 2 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shopping cart

• counterpart
• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• redstart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart