vehicle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a conveyance that transports people or objects
  2. noun a medium for the expression or achievement of something
    • his editorials provided a vehicle for his political views
    • a congregation is a vehicle of group identity
    • the play was just a vehicle to display her talents
  3. noun any substance that facilitates the use of a drug or pigment or other material that is mixed with it
  4. noun any inanimate object (as a towel or money or clothing or dishes or books or toys etc.) that can transmit infectious agents from one person to another
    fomite.

WordNet

Ve"hi*cle noun
Etymology
L. vehiculum, fr. vehere to carry; akin to E. way, wain. See Way, n., and cf. Convex, Inveigh, Veil, Vex.
Definitions
  1. That in or on which any person or thing is, or may be, carried, as a coach, carriage, wagon, cart, car, sleigh, bicycle, etc.; a means of conveyance; specifically, a means of conveyance upon land.
  2. That which is used as the instrument of conveyance or communication; as, matter is the vehicle of energy.
    A simple style forms the best vehicle of thought to a popular assembly. Wirt.
  3. (Pharm.) A substance in which medicine is taken.
  4. (Paint.) Any liquid with which a pigment is applied, including whatever gum, wax, or glutinous or adhesive substance is combined with it. ✍ Water is used in fresco and in water-color painting, the colors being consolidated with gum arabic; size is used in distemper painting. In oil painting, the fixed oils of linseed, nut, and poppy, are used; in encaustic, wax is the vehicle. Fairholt.

Webster 1913