What does garage mean?
A garage is a building, room, or covered structure in which a vehicle can be parked, stored, or serviced. It may be attached to a house, built as a separate structure, or designed as a larger public parking facility. In British English, “garage” can also refer to a small business that repairs and maintains vehicles. The word is sometimes used as a verb, as in “she garaged the car overnight,” meaning to place or keep a vehicle in a garage. In everyday language, the term evokes private domestic spaces, storage, DIY repairs, and household life. “Garage sale” is particularly familiar in North America, while “parking garage” is common for multistory vehicle-parking buildings in both British and American English.
A building, room, or covered space where a vehicle is parked, stored, or repaired; also, an indoor parking structure.
"The new garage is large enough for two cars and a workbench."
In British English, garage can also mean a vehicle-repair business.
To place or keep a vehicle in a garage.
"They garaged the sports car over the winter."
This use is established but more formal than simply “put the car in the garage.”
The regular plural is formed by adding -s.
"The neighborhood has several detached garages."
The word began as a place of safety before it became a place to park a car.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does garage come from?
English borrowed the word from French garage, meaning “shelter” or “place of safety,” in the late sixteenth century. The French word developed from a northern French form associated with garer, “to shelter” or “to watch over,” and ultimately from a Germanic root connected with enclosing or protecting. That root also appears in related English words such as guard, garrison, and garden.
Related word forms
How garage is actually used
The word is standard in both British and American English. In American usage, the stress is commonly on the second syllable; in British usage, it is commonly on the first. As a verb, “garage” is formal but well established.