Phrase guide

tow truck

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈtoʊ.tɹʌk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A truck (lorry) typically equipped with winches, chains, and related equipment, and used to tow disabled vehicles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: towie, wrecker, breakdown lorry, breakdown truck, recovery truck, tower

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: truck, lorry, motor vehicle, vehicle

2

noun

Meaning 2

a truck equipped to hoist and pull wrecked cars (or to remove cars from no-parking zones)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tow car, wrecker

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: truck, motortruck

History

Etymology

From tow + truck.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: grua — motor vehicle for towing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 拖車 /拖车 (tuōchē) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 拖吊車 /拖吊车 (tuōdiàochē) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Czech: odtahové vozidlo — motor vehicle for towing
  • Czech: odtahový automobil — motor vehicle for towing
  • Czech: odtahovka — motor vehicle for towing
  • Danish: bjærgningskøretøj — motor vehicle for towing
  • Dutch: takelwagen — motor vehicle for towing
  • Dutch: bergingsvoertuig — motor vehicle for towing
  • Estonian: puksiirauto — motor vehicle for towing
  • Finnish: hinausauto — motor vehicle for towing
  • French: dépanneuse — motor vehicle for towing
  • French: remorqueuse — motor vehicle for towing
  • French: camion de remorquage — motor vehicle for towing
  • German: Abschleppwagen — motor vehicle for towing
  • German: Abschleppfahrzeug — motor vehicle for towing
  • Hungarian: autómentő — motor vehicle for towing
  • Icelandic: dráttarbíll — motor vehicle for towing
  • Indonesian: mobil derek — motor vehicle for towing
  • Irish: trucail tarraingthe — motor vehicle for towing
  • Italian: camion di rimorchio — motor vehicle for towing
  • Italian: carro attrezzi — motor vehicle for towing
  • Japanese: レッカー車 (rekkā-sha) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Khmer: ឡានស្ទូច (laanstuuc) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Korean: 견인차 (gyeonincha) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Malay: trak tunda — motor vehicle for towing
  • Norman: ouadgîn dé dêpannage — motor vehicle for towing
  • Norwegian: slepelastebil — motor vehicle for towing
  • Norwegian: bergingsbil — motor vehicle for towing
  • Polish: laweta — motor vehicle for towing
  • Portuguese: guincho — motor vehicle for towing
  • Portuguese: caminhão de reboque — motor vehicle for towing
  • Portuguese: reboque — motor vehicle for towing
  • Romanian: autoremorcher — motor vehicle for towing
  • Russian: авари́йная маши́на (avaríjnaja mašína) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Russian: буксиро́вщик (buksiróvščik) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Russian: эвакуа́тор (evakuátor) — motor vehicle for towing
  • Spanish: grúa — motor vehicle for towing
  • Spanish: remolque — motor vehicle for towing
  • Spanish: servimóvil — motor vehicle for towing
  • Swedish: bärgningsbil — motor vehicle for towing
  • Swedish: bärgare — motor vehicle for towing
  • Swedish: bärgningsfordon — motor vehicle for towing
  • Turkish: çekici — motor vehicle for towing