lorry

A "lorry" is the British English word for what Americans usually call a "truck." It is a large road vehicle used to carry goods, materials, or other heavy loads. You might see lorries on motorways, in cities, or near warehouses, moving everything from food to building supplies. The word is common in the UK and Ireland, and it is also understood in some other English-speaking places, though "truck" is more common in North America. Picture a line of large vehicles heading to a depot, each one loaded for the next delivery.

The word "lorry" is the usual British English term for what North Americans call a "truck." It normally refers to a large motor vehicle made for carrying goods rather than passengers. The image can range from a delivery vehicle bringing stock to shops to a flatbed carrying building materials, or an articulated lorry moving cargo over long distances.

You might hear someone say, "The removal men arrived in a huge lorry," meaning the movers came in a large vehicle to carry furniture. Or perhaps, "A fleet of lorries was delayed after an accident on the motorway." In everyday British use, the word often suggests a working vehicle that carries products, equipment, or supplies from one place to another. Smaller goods vehicles may also be called vans, so "lorry" usually points to something larger and heavier.

The word is strongly linked with British and Irish English, though many learners will also meet it in news reports, road signs, and conversations from other regions that follow British usage. In American English, "truck" is the normal word instead. So if a story says that a lorry overturned on the motorway, it is talking about a large vehicle carrying goods on the road.