What does trolley mean?
Trolley is a versatile word best known for either a small wheeled carrier or an urban transport vehicle. In British English, a trolley is commonly a cart with two or four wheels that a person pushes or pulls, including the wheeled frame used by shoppers to carry groceries. In American English, trolley more often refers to an electric streetcar or cable car operating on rails, though trolleybus also denotes a bus drawing electricity from overhead wires. The word can additionally describe small rail wagons used in mines and industrial operations. As a verb, trolley means to transport something in or on a trolley. Its regional vocabulary is especially memorable: the word that names a grocery-carrying vehicle in Britain often names a streetcar in the United States. Across these uses, trolley consistently suggests something moved by wheels, whether by human power, electricity, or an industrial rail system.
A small wheeled cart, usually pushed or pulled by a person, used to carry goods, luggage, or other loads. The word may also denote an electric streetcar, trolleybus, or small industrial rail wagon.
"The porter wheeled a luggage trolley through the terminal."
The portable-cart sense is especially common in British English; the streetcar sense is especially common in American English.
To carry or transport something in or on a trolley.
"Workers trolleyed the boxes across the warehouse floor."
The verb is less common than the noun and often suggests moving bulky items on a wheeled cart.
The standard regular plural is formed by adding -s.
"Several empty trolleys were parked beside the supermarket entrance."
A shopping cart is a trolley in Britain, while a trolley in America usually means a streetcar—a small linguistic U-turn with wheels.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trolley come from?
The word appeared in the early nineteenth century for a wheeled cart, although its precise origin is uncertain. It is commonly linked to the proper name Troll and to the older English word troll, meaning to pull, drag, or roll. The latter belongs to a wider group of Germanic and Indo-European words associated with pulling or rolling.
How trolley is actually used
In British English, trolley is common for a wheeled carrying cart, whereas US speakers generally use cart. For rail transport, the regional preference tends to reverse: trolley is frequent in American English for a streetcar, while British speakers more often use tram.