breakdown lorry
British English for a tow truck — the heavy vehicle that comes to rescue your broken-down car and haul it to the nearest garage.
Definitions
British English for a tow truck — the heavy vehicle that comes to rescue your broken-down car and haul it to the nearest garage. In the UK, 'lorry' is the standard word for a large truck, and a 'breakdown lorry' is specifically the one equipped with a crane, winch, or flatbed for recovering stricken vehicles. If you've ever been stranded on the motorway, the breakdown lorry arriving feels like the most beautiful sight in the world.
The breakdown lorry took over an hour to arrive, leaving them waiting on the hard shoulder in the rain.
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(chiefly, UK) A tow truck.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Semantically related
- breakdown truck85%
The standard British English term for a tow truck — a vehicle equipped to recover and tow broken-down cars. Widely used across the UK, where 'tow truck' (the American term) is less common. Breakdown trucks are typically operated by motoring organizations like the AA or RAC, as well as private recovery companies.
- breakdown truck80%
(chiefly, UK) A tow truck.
- lorry73%
(Britain, Ireland, Indic, India, Africa) A large and heavy motor vehicle designed to carry goods or soldiers; a truck.
- lorryload71%
A British English term for a large quantity of something — literally the amount a lorry (truck) can carry, but used figuratively to mean a huge amount of anything. It's the British equivalent of saying 'a truckload' of something. You might get a lorryload of criticism, a lorryload of paperwork, or arrive at a party with a lorryload of snacks. It's vivid, practical, and very British in its use of 'lorry' rather than 'truck.'