Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Carrier \Car"ri*er\, n. [From {Carry}.]
1. One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger.
The air which is but . . . a carrier of the sounds.
--Bacon.
2. One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry
goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster.
The roads are crowded with carriers, laden with rich
manufactures. --Swift.
3. (Mach.) That which drives or carries; as:
(a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the
motion of the face plate; a lathe dog.
(b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine.
(c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers
the cartridge to a position from which it can be
thrust into the barrel.
{Carrier pigeon} (Zo["o]l.), a variety of the domestic pigeon
used to convey letters from a distant point to to its
home.
{Carrier shell} (Zo["o]l.), a univalve shell of the genus
{Phorus}; -- so called because it fastens bits of stones
and broken shells to its own shell, to such an extent as
almost to conceal it.
{Common carrier} (Law.) See under {Common}, a.
Source : WordNet®
carrier
n 1: someone whose employment involves carrying something; "the
bonds were transmitted by carrier" [syn: {bearer}, {toter}]
2: a self-propelled wheeled vehicle designed specifically to
carry something; "refrigerated carriers have
revolutionized the grocery business"
3: a large warship that carries planes and has a long flat deck
for take-offs and landings [syn: {aircraft carrier}, {flattop},
{attack aircraft carrier}]
4: an inactive substance that is a vehicle for a radioactive
tracer of the same substance and that assists in its
recovery after some chemical reaction
5: a person or firm in the business of transporting people or
goods or messages [syn: {common carrier}]
6: a radio wave that can be modulated in order to transmit a
signal [syn: {carrier wave}]
7: a man who delivers the mail [syn: {mailman}, {postman}, {mail
carrier}, {letter carrier}]
8: a boy who delivers newspapers [syn: {newsboy}]
9: a person who has some pathogen to which he is immune but who
can pass it on to others [syn: {immune carrier}]
10: a rack attached to a vehicle; for carrying luggage or skis
or the like