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

Wisteria Lane 4-Piece Patio Set Don’t miss out on this four-piece conversation set that’s been added to 1,000 shopping carts this month. —Isabel Garcia, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025

The administration’s policies might ultimately reshape not just the food industry—but the very contents of the average American shopping cart for years to come. —Shayna Harris, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025

The kittens were found beneath a shopping cart in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., according to Jessica Gercke, a representative from the Helen Woodward Animal Center, in an email to PEOPLE. —Toria Sheffield, People.com, 26 May 2025

The Iraq war veteran sweated through his white T-shirt, heaving his belongings into a shopping cart. —Quil Lawrence, NPR, 26 May 2025

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