big rig

noun

plural big rigs

US

: a large truck with an attached trailer that is used for hauling freight : semitrailer sense 2

A father and grandfather, Brubaker worked behind the wheel of a big rig for over a decade before transferring to a supervisory role.

—Deirdre Reilly

He formerly drove a big rig for a freight company.

—Jim Kleinpeter

Examples of big rig in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Two big rigs collided on the 210 Freeway on Wednesday afternoon, creating a traffic backup after cargo spilled across several lanes of the road. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Los Angeles firefighters are mourning the death of a colleague in a crash in Whittier early Friday morning that involved a big rig. — Blanca Begert, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2026

The announcement came after a major chain-reaction crash near Blue Canyon on Tuesday involving two big rigs and 10 other vehicles that closed westbound Interstate 80 for about 16 hours. — Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 23 July 2026

Cars, trucks, and big rigs sit in various states of disassembly as engineers test and validate software designed to turn otherwise ordinary machines into rolling robots. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 21 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for big rig

• renege
• big
• brig
• brigg
• dig
• fig
• gig
• jig
• mig
• pig
• prig
• sprig

Kids Definition

big rig

noun

: semitrailer sense 2