Meaning & use
tipper truck
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Meaning
nouncountable
A large truck with a bed that can be raised at the front to pour out its load, used for carrying loose materials.
Grammar: Countable: a tipper truck, two tipper trucks. Often used with 'by' to show transport: by tipper truck.
Patterns
- a tipper truck loaded with something
- deliver something by tipper truck
The workers used a tipper truck to move the sand to the building site.
A tipper truck arrived and dumped a load of gravel on the road.
He drives a tipper truck for a local construction company.
Word forms
| plural | tipper trucks |
|---|
Common combinations
- tipper truck driver
- The tipper truck driver waited while the digger filled the back.
- a load of something in a tipper truck
- They brought a load of bricks in a tipper truck.
- hire a tipper truck
- We hired a tipper truck for the weekend to clear the garden.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dump truck
- The usual American term for the same vehicle; use 'dump truck' in US English and 'tipper truck' in British English.
- lorry
- A general British word for a large vehicle for carrying goods; a tipper truck is a special type of lorry that can tip its load out.
Word family
Commonly confused: tipper truck or tanker?
tipper truck vs tanker
A tanker carries liquids in a large tank, while a tipper truck carries loose solid materials like sand or rocks and tips them out.
Practice
The builders need to move several tons of sand. Which vehicle is most suitable?
Choose one answer.
A tipper truck is designed to carry and pour out loose materials like sand. A tanker carries liquids, a tow truck moves broken-down vehicles, and a pickup is too small for tons of sand.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tipper truck”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.