taxicab
noun
taxi·cab
ˈtak-sē-ˌkab 
: an automobile that carries passengers for a fare usually determined by the distance traveled
Examples of taxicab in a Sentence
took a taxicab to the airport
Recent Examples on the Web
The gunman then pedaled a bicycle through Central Park, took a taxicab to a bus station and then rode the subway to a train station before fleeing to Pennsylvania, authorities said.
—
Mark Scolforo, arkansasonline.com, 20 Dec. 2024
Police later released a photo taken from a security camera inside a taxicab, which gave a clear image of the suspect’s eyes.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024
He’s been operating taxicabs, Ubers, or Lyfts since 1995, and even helped organize a taxi workers’ strike in the late ’90s.
—Wired Staff, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2024
Once approved, WeGo will pay for up to six trips home per year via taxicab or rental car.
—Katie Nixon, The Tennessean, 4 June 2024
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Mark Scolforo, arkansasonline.com, 20 Dec. 2024
Police later released a photo taken from a security camera inside a taxicab, which gave a clear image of the suspect’s eyes.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024
He’s been operating taxicabs, Ubers, or Lyfts since 1995, and even helped organize a taxi workers’ strike in the late ’90s.
—Wired Staff, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2024
Once approved, WeGo will pay for up to six trips home per year via taxicab or rental car.
—Katie Nixon, The Tennessean, 4 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for taxicab
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Dictionary Entries Near taxicab
Cite this Entry
“Taxicab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taxicab. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
taxicab
noun
taxi·cab
ˈtak-sē-ˌkab
: an automobile that carries passengers for a fare usually based on the distance traveled
Etymology
from earlier taximeter cab, from French taximètre, literally "tax meter," and English cab, a shortened form of cabriolet "a one-horse carriage"
Word Origin
In the days of horse-drawn vehicles, one type of carriage was called a cabriolet, from a French word meaning "leap." This name was fitting since the carriage was so light it bounced or "leaped" about on the rough roads of the time. In time the name cabriolet was shortened to cab. These cabs were popular as vehicles carrying passengers for a fee. They were equipped with a taximeter, a device that automatically recorded the distance traveled and showed what fee or "tax" the passenger owed. In time this carriage or "cab" with its taximeter came to be called a taximeter cab. When the automobile took over from carriages the job of carrying passengers for a fee, it took over the name taximeter cab as well. This name was soon shortened to taxicab, and that was later shortened to taxi and sometimes just cab.
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