trailer

From trail +‎ -er. The film sense derives from the fact that previews were formerly shown after the main feature, rather than before as is usual today.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹeɪlə(ɹ)/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) enPR: trāʹlər, IPA^(key): /ˈtɹeɪlɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)

trailer (plural trailers)

1. Someone who or something that trails (follows behind); something that is trailing.
   • 2014, Chris Ekpekurede, Laughing Over Serious Matters: Stories to Make You Laugh and Reflect:

     There were vehicles following me, of course, but was any of them trailing me? […] Without any warning, and without signalling with the trafficator, I took a sudden right turn, hoping to shake off my trailer.

2. Part of an object which extends some distance beyond the main body of the object.

   Synonyms: appendage, attachment, appendix, extension, extrusion

   the trailer of a plant

4. An unpowered wheeled vehicle (not a caravan or camper) that is towed behind another, and used to carry equipment, etc., that cannot be carried in the leading vehicle.

   At the end of the day, we put the snowmobiles back on the trailer.

   • 1980 April, Greg Stone, “Utility hauling? Do it with your boat trailer”, in Popular Science, page 104:

     My trailer is a Highlander T-14 8G, one of the smallest trailers. I normally use it for carrying a pair of Sunfish sailboats that are much lighter than its 800-pound weight limit.

   • 2004, Mike Byrnes & Associates, Bumper to Bumper: The Complete Guide to Tractor-Trailer Operations, page 310:

     Or you can slide the trailer′s tandem forward toward the tractor. This changes the kingpin weight because you changed the “A” dimension of the trailer along with its wheel-base.

   • 2009, Norman Edward Robinson, Kim A. Sprayberry, Current Therapy in Equine Medicine, page 122:

     There is also a strong preference to avoid the cave effect associated with the front of most horse trailers and a strong desire to face the large opening between the top of the rear doors and the roof of the trailer.

6. (US) A furnished vehicle towed behind another, and used as a dwelling when stationary.

   Synonyms: (US) camper, (UK) caravan, travel trailer

   We drove our trailer to Yellowstone Park.

8. (US) A prefabricated home that could be towed to a new destination but is typically permanently left in an area designated for such homes.

   Synonym: mobile home

   The young couple′s first home was in a trailer.

9. (chiefly US, media) A preview of a film, video game or TV show.

   Synonyms: preview, teaser

   The trailer for that movie makes it seem like it would be fun.

10. A short blank segment of film at the end of a reel, for convenient insertion of the film in a projector.
11. (computing) The final record of a list of data items, often identified by a key field with an otherwise invalid value that sorts last alphabetically (e.g., “ZZZZZ”) or numerically (“99999”); especially common in the context of punched cards, where the final card is called a trailer card.

    Synonym: sentinel

    The linked list terminates with a trailer record.

12. (networking) The last part of a packet, often containing a check sequence.

    Antonym: header

    The encapsulation layer adds an eight-byte header and a two-byte trailer to each packet.

• In Australia and the UK, use of trailer in the sense of “preview of a film” is gaining currency over the synonym preview, due to US influence.

trailer (third-person singular simple present trailers, present participle trailering, simple past and past participle trailered)

1. To load on a trailer or to transport by trailer.

   The engine wouldn't run any more so we had to trailer my old car to the wrecking yard.

• retiral, retrial, trialer

Unadapted borrowing from English trailer.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtrajlɛr], [ˈtrɛjlɛr]

trailer m inan

1. trailer (preview of a film, TV show, or video game)

   Synonym: upoutávka

• “trailer”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

trailer c (singular definite traileren, plural indefinite trailere)

1. (automotive) trailer (vehicle towed behind another vehicle)
2. (media) trailer (preview of a film, TV show, or video game)

Borrowed from English trailer.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtreː.lər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: trai‧ler

trailer m (plural trailers)

1. trailer (unpowered vehicle towed behind another)

   Synonyms: aanhangwagen, oplegger

2. semi-trailer truck
3. trailer, camper, caravan (furnished vehicle towed behind another)

   Synonyms: caravan, kampeerwagen, woonwagen

4. trailer (preview of a film, video game or TV show)

• Indonesian: trailer

From Dutch trailer, from English trailer.

• IPA^(key): [ˈt̪rai̯.lər]
• Hyphenation: trai‧lêr

trailêr (plural trailer-trailer)

1. semi-trailer

   Synonym: anhang

2. (film) trailer, a preview of a film, video game or TV show

   Synonyms: pracuplik, pratayang

• tréler (Standard Malay)

• “trailer” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Unadapted borrowing from English trailer.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtrɛj.lɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɛjlɛr
• Syllabification: trai‧ler

trailer m inan

1. (film, marketing) trailer (preview of a film)

   Synonyms: pilot, teaser, zwiastun

2. trailer (unpowered wheeled vehicle that is towed behind another, and used to carry equipment, with the exception of a caravan)

   Synonym: przyczepa

• trailer in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• trailer in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• trêiler (rare)

Unadapted borrowing from English trailer.

trailer m (plural trailers)

1. (film, television) trailer (short preview of a film)
2. (Brazil) caravan (furnished vehicle used as a dwelling)

   Synonyms: (Portugal) caravana, (Portugal) rulote, (Portugal) roulotte

3. (Brazil) trailer (vehicle towed behind another, used for carrying equipment)

   Synonyms: reboque, (Portugal) atrelado

Borrowed from English trailer.

trailer n (plural trailere)

1. trailer

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɾeileɾ/ [ˈt̪ɾei̯.leɾ]
• Rhymes: -eileɾ
• Syllabification: trai‧ler

trailer m (plural trailers or trailer)

1. alternative form of tráiler

Borrowed from English trailer. First attested in 1948.

trailer c

1. (automotive) a (large) trailer (on or towed by a truck)
2. (media) a trailer (preview of a film, TV show, or video game)

A smaller trailer as typically towed by a car is a släpvagn (shortened to släp). Technically, a trailer is also a type of släpvagn.

• dra (“pull; tow”)
• flak
• semitrailer

• trailer in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• trailer in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• trailer in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)