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

Extrapolating from the way Jaime rides a shopping cart (like a 10-year-old, zooming through the frozen food section with both feet off the ground), these grocery aisles are like memory lane. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026

But judging from the overflowing shopping carts, many seem to be preparing for something more apocalyptic. —Fousia Abdullahi, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Jan. 2026

At a busy grocery store near downtown Dallas, Kennedi Mallard and Frank Green loaded two shopping carts full of supplies into their car. —Jamie Stengle, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026

People circling for shopping carts and parking spots. —Amy Wenk, AJC.com, 23 Jan. 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