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

Save room in your shopping cart for these items—from flashy kitchenware to can't-miss furniture pieces. —Maddie Topliff, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Mar. 2026

Another turtle the aquarium is treating was found bound to a shopping cart and stroller by fishing line. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026

Back then, the large encampment, littered with tarps, tents, shopping carts, makeshift structures, trash, and human waste, was home to more than 300 residents, tucked away in the foliage and sprawled across the 68-acre-plus site near Senter and Story Roads, known more formally as Coyote Meadows. —Devan Patel, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026

My shopping cart is mostly full of fresh foods, like fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. —Jillian Kubala, Health, 26 Feb. 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