crate

[ kreyt ]
/ kreɪt /

noun

a slatted wooden box or framework for packing, shopping, or storing fruit, furniture, glassware, crockery, etc.
any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.
Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, especially an automobile: They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.
a quantity, especially of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 foot (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 meters): a crate of oranges.

verb (used with object), crat·ed, crat·ing.

to pack in a crate.

Origin of crate

1350–1400; 1915–20 for def 3; Middle English, obscurely akin to Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle

OTHER WORDS FROM crate

re·crate, verb (used with object), re·crat·ed, re·crat·ing. un·crate, verb (used with object), un·crat·ed, un·crat·ing. un·crat·ed, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for crate

British Dictionary definitions for crate

crate
/ (kreɪt) /

noun

a fairly large container, usually made of wooden slats or wickerwork, used for packing, storing, or transporting goods
slang an old car, aeroplane, etc

verb

(tr) to pack or place in a crate

Derived forms of crate

crater, noun crateful, noun

Word Origin for crate

C16: from Latin crātis wickerwork, hurdle