tractor

noun

trac·​tor ˈtrak-tər 

1

a

: a 4-wheeled or tracklaying automotive vehicle used especially for drawing farm equipment

b

: a smaller 2-wheeled apparatus controlled through handlebars by a walking operator

c

: truck entry 1 sense 1b

2

: an airplane having the propeller forward of the main supporting surfaces

Illustration of tractor

• tractor 1a

Examples of tractor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The driver of the tractor-trailer was reportedly not injured in the crash, which closed state Route 32 for hours. —Michael Guise, CBS News, 16 June 2026

Initially, a witness called police to report that a tractor-trailer on Pennsylvania Route 28 in Jefferson County was driving erratically at five miles per hour. —Finch Walker, USA Today, 16 June 2026

The company sold around 500 tractors, including one on a dairy farm that logged more than 4,000 hours in use. —Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026

Work your way down the street, keeping an eye out for the cartoonish owl in a baseball cap in one yard, the skeleton riding a motorcycle in the next, the cow and a chicken caught mid-discussion atop a tractor in a third. —Alissa Greenberg, Mercury News, 15 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin trahere

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing tractor

• tractor-trailer

Rhymes for tractor

• acter
• actor
• factor
• attractor
• cofactor
• compactor
• contactor
• contractor
• distractor
• extractor
• impactor
• protractor

Kids Definition

tractor

noun

trac·​tor ˈtrak-tər 

1

: a vehicle that has large rear wheels or moves on tracks and is used especially for pulling farm implements

2

: a short truck with no body used in combination with a trailer for hauling freight

Medical Definition

tractor

noun

trac·​tor ˈtrak-tər 

: an instrument used to exert traction on a body part or tissue (as in surgical procedures)

a urethral tractor