casters

Meanings

1. 1nounusually plural

   Small wheels attached to the bottom of furniture or equipment so it can be moved easily.

   Grammar: Usually plural because furniture has several; the singular is 'caster'.

   Patterns

   • casters on something
   • a set of casters
   • swivel casters

   The desk has casters so you can roll it across the room.

   One of the casters on my chair broke, so it wobbles.

   We put casters on the heavy boxes to move them without lifting.

2. 2nouncountableBritish

   A small container with holes on top for shaking sugar, salt, or pepper onto food.

   Grammar: Countable: a caster, two casters. Often used in the phrase 'salt and pepper casters'.

   Patterns

   • salt and pepper casters
   • a sugar caster

   She bought a silver set of salt and pepper casters.

   The sugar caster was empty, so I asked for more.

   Please pass the pepper caster.

Word forms

Common combinations

swivel casters

Swivel casters let the cart turn in any direction.

replace a caster

It is easy to replace a broken caster on an office chair.

heavy-duty casters

The workbench sits on heavy-duty casters.

lockable casters

Lockable casters keep the table from rolling away.

Synonyms and how they differ

wheel

A wheel is the round part itself; a caster is the whole unit that holds the wheel and lets it turn.

roller

A roller is a cylinder that turns, often used under heavy objects; a caster is a small wheel on a bracket.

Word family

caster noun

Singular form, one small wheel unit.

castor noun

British spelling of the same word for furniture wheels.

Commonly confused: casters or castor?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “casters”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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