Meaning & use
tuk-tuk
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small motorized vehicle with three wheels and an open or covered passenger area, used as a cheap taxi in many Asian cities.
Grammar: Take a tuk-tuk, ride in a tuk-tuk, or catch a tuk-tuk.
Patterns
- take a tuk-tuk to somewhere
- ride in a tuk-tuk
We took a tuk-tuk from the market to our hotel.
The tuk-tuk driver bargained over the price before we climbed in.
Tourists love the thrill of weaving through traffic in a tuk-tuk.
Word forms
| plural | tuk-tuks |
|---|
Common combinations
- take a tuk-tuk
- It's cheaper to take a tuk-tuk than a taxi.
- tuk-tuk driver
- The tuk-tuk driver knew every side street.
- hail a tuk-tuk
- She hailed a tuk-tuk outside the station.
- tuk-tuk ride
- A short tuk-tuk ride took us to the temple.
- tuk-tuk tour
- We booked a tuk-tuk tour of the old city.
Synonyms and how they differ
- auto rickshaw
- Auto rickshaw is the common term in India and is more formal than tuk-tuk, which is the usual name in Thailand and Sri Lanka.
- rickshaw
- Rickshaw can mean one pulled or pedaled by a person, while a tuk-tuk always has a motor.
- taxi
- Taxi is a general word for a car for hire, while tuk-tuk names a specific small three-wheeler.
Word family
Commonly confused: tuk-tuk or tuktuk?
tuk-tuk vs tuktuk
This is simply an alternative spelling of tuk-tuk, not a different thing.
Practice
In Bangkok, the quickest way through a traffic jam for two tourists might be a ___.
Choose one answer.
A tuk-tuk is a small, nimble taxi. A ferry runs on water, and a tractor and a tram are not hired as street taxis.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tuk-tuk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.