Meaning & use
taxi
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Meanings
nouncountable
A car with a driver whom you pay to take you somewhere.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a taxi', 'two taxis', 'by taxi'.
Patterns
- take a taxi
- call a taxi
- by taxi
- taxi to somewhere
We took a taxi to the airport.
She called a taxi to go home after the party.
The taxi ride cost about twenty dollars.
verbintransitive
(of an aircraft) to move slowly along the ground before takeoff or after landing.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'along', 'to', or 'on': The plane taxied to the runway.
Patterns
- taxi along
- taxi to
- taxi on
The plane taxied to the gate after landing.
We watched the aircraft taxi along the runway.
The pilot taxied slowly because of the fog.
Word forms
| plural | taxis |
|---|---|
| third person singular | taxies |
| past tense | taxied |
| past participle | taxied |
| -ing form | taxiing |
Common combinations
- hail a taxi
- It's hard to hail a taxi in the rain.
- taxi stand
- There's a taxi stand outside the station.
- taxi driver
- The taxi driver knew a shortcut.
- by taxi
- I usually go to work by taxi.
- taxi fare
- The taxi fare was higher than I expected.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cab
- Common in American English; 'taxi' is more common in British English, but both are widely understood.
- taxicab
- A more formal or old-fashioned term for the same vehicle.
Word family
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
When talking about a means of transport, use 'by taxi' without an article. The other options incorrectly add 'a', 'the', or use the plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “taxi”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.