18-wheeler

noun

A big rig truck: a semi-trailer plus the truck or tractor pulling it.

Similar
semi-trailer trucksemi trucksemiarticulated lorryarticbig rigjuggernauttractor-trailer
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Meanings

noun18-wheeler (plural 18-wheelers)

plural 18-wheelers · alternative eighteen-wheeler

  1. A big rig truck: a semi-trailer plus the truck or tractor pulling it.

    On a cold morning in Abilene, Texas, a column of 18-wheelers crawls down bumpy, waterlogged roads, past cattle grazing on dusty shrubs.

    2025 December 11, Charlie Campbell, Andrew R. Chow and Billy Perrigo, “The Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year”, in Time

    Synonyms: semi-trailer truck, semi truck, semi, articulated lorry, artic, big rig, juggernaut, tractor-trailer

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA big rig truck: a semi-trailer plus the truck or tractor pulling it.

Similar
semi-trailer trucksemi trucksemiarticulated lorryarticbig rigjuggernauttractor-trailertruck and trailer
Also see
semi-trailertractor-trailer

Origin

From the total number of wheels: two front steering wheels on the tractor, plus dual wheels on each end of two axles (total of 8) at the rear of the tractor and supporting the front of the trailer, plus dual wheels on two axles at the rear of the trailer.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

18-wheeler. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/18-wheeler

MLA

“18-wheeler.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/18-wheeler. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “18-wheeler,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/18-wheeler.

Source: 18-wheeler on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.