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carrier Definition

car·rier (kar′ē ər)

noun

  1. a person or thing that carries, as one who delivers mail or newspapers, or a train, bus, airplane, etc.
    1. a person or company in the business of transporting goods or passengers
    2. a company in the business of providing telephone service
  3. a messenger or porter
  4. a container, support, or course in or on which something is carried or conducted, as a mechanical part or device or a water conduit
  5. a reclining plastic seat for a baby, which may be carried or set down
  6. a company that insures a certain person, organization, etc.
  7. aircraft carrier
  8. a person or animal that carries and transmits disease germs or recessive genes, esp. a person who does not seem to be affected by them
  9. Chem.
    1. a catalytic agent that causes an element or radical to be transferred from one compound to another
    2. a body which supports the catalyst deposited in or on it
    3. a relatively large quantity of a stable substance that is combined with a minute quantity of an isotope, esp. one that is a radioactive tracer, to facilitate its handling
  10. Electronics an electron, ion, hole, etc. whose movement constitutes a flow of electric current
  11. Radio, TV the steady transmitted wave whose amplitude, frequency, or phase is modulated by the signal

Etymology: ME carier < carien, carry

carrier Synonyms

carrier

n.

  1. One who carries or transmits something

    mail carrier, letter carrier, courier, delivery person, bearer, messenger, transporter, shipper, trucker, freighter, common carrier, express, courier service, conveyor, vehicle, transmitter, vector, Typhoid Mary; see also bearer 2, letter carrier, messenger, transport.

  2. A ship that carries airplanes

    aircraft carrier, escort carrier, flattop*; see ship, warship.

carrier Law Definition

n

A person or commercial enterprise (such as an airline) in the business of transporting people or goods.
common carrier
. A carrier who is legally required to accept all business from the public, so long as the approved fee for the transport of passengers or freight is paid.
private carrier
A carrier who is not legally required to accept business from the public, but who is hired in particular cases to deliver passengers or goods.
carrier Telecom Definition
  1. A continuous signal, or waveform, at a certain frequency on a circuit, or within a certain frequency range, and that can be modulated to support an information-bearing signal. In other words, the carrier carries the information signal, which the transmitter impresses on the carrier by varying the signal in some fashion. The carrier also can support signaling and control information used to coordinate and manage various aspects of network operations, although signaling and control can also occur over a subcarrier frequency. A carrier also is known as a carrier wave.
  2. A company that provides information transport services. For example, a Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) provides local information transport services, and an Interexchange Carrier (IEC or IXC) provides transport services between LECs. A heavy carrier is facilities-based, i.e., owns the switching and transmission systems that comprise the network it uses to provide services to its customers.A light carrier is not facilities-based, i.e., leases rather than owns the network it uses to provide services.A common carrier provides message transport services to the general public and generally is regulated to a considerable extent, at least with respect to fundamental aspects of service such as availability and basic rates. See also common carrier, IXC, and LEC.
carrier Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • modulate: In the downstream direction, the digital data typically modulates a 6 MHz television carrier, somewhere between 42 MHz and 750 MHz.

Adjective modifier

  • armored: These include armored personnel carriers, armored infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles.
  • low-cost: The expansion of low-cost carriers is now a reality.
  • armored: The occasional armored personnel carrier can be seen on the roads.
  • no-frills: No-frills airlines continue to put on routes to Italy, even tho a major Italian no-frills carrier went under in 2004.
  • long-distance: Global Crossing, a long-distance telecoms carrier once valued at some $ 50 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
  • bulk: At 1850 GMT, four robbers armed with crowbars boarded a bulk carrier, gaining access via the forward mooring ropes.

Modifies a noun

  • bag: Gone are the days of carrier bags full of records.
  • pigeon: There is an unusual memorial to wartime carrier pigeons surrounded by a carpet bed.
  • pre-selection: With carrier pre-selection, use of such services becomes transparent.
  • frequency: A single radio carrier frequency would have to be switched on or off very rapidly.

Noun used with modifier

  • aircraft: Many flew from aircraft carriers located near the front.
  • mutation: Relatives of mutation carriers were genotyped in order to study the segregation of mutant alleles with obesity.
  • parcel: The parcels carriers used by most online retailers tend to be less flexible.
  • personnel: The occasional armored personnel carrier can be seen on the roads.
  • wireless: Week's free use wireless carriers with get it now.
  • Bren: Strewn around are numerous exposed shells and bren gun carriers among other debris.

Possessives

  • cart: The family moved to Cleethorpes on the carrier's cart.

Preposition: of

  • hemophilia: Dana is a carrier of hemophilia and has mild hemophilia too.
  • mutation: PATIENTS: Carriers of a mutation for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer who were 25 years of age.