a large transport conveyance designed to be pulled by a truck or tractor
"The heavy cargo trailer detached from the tractor as they reached the loading dock."
a wheeled vehicle that can be pulled by a car or truck and is equipped for occupancy
"After buying our new home, we had to hitch it to our truck so we could pull the trailer up the driveway."
Someone who or something that trails.
"The dog wagged its tail as a tired trailer behind it stumbled through the mud."
In plain English: A trailer is a vehicle that carries goods or people and must be pulled by another car or truck.
"We parked our small trailer in the empty lot behind the house."
To load on a trailer or to transport by trailer.
"The movers carefully loaded our entire sofa onto the trailer before driving away."
In plain English: To trailer something means to pull it behind another vehicle.
"The heavy rain began to trailer down the windowpane during the storm."
Usage: Use this verb when describing the action of loading cargo onto a towed vehicle or moving goods via that method, rather than using it as a noun for the vehicle itself. It is most common in logistics and construction contexts where items are physically secured for transit.
The word trailer comes from combining "trail" with the suffix "-er." In cinema, it originally referred to short films shown after a movie because they trailed behind the main feature, whereas today previews are typically seen before the film starts.