shopping cart

noun

1

: a metal or plastic cart with four small wheels that is used for holding merchandise when shopping (as at a supermarket or department store)

… about the only amenities besides the jumbo-sized shopping carts are a few flatbed dollies to allow shoppers to get large appliances like refrigerators and washing machines to the cash register and then out to the parking lot.

—Jean Crichton

2

: a temporary record of items selected for eventual purchase from an online vendor's website

To set up shop on the Internet, you need a commerce-enabled Web site, which includes the electronic shopping cart; a connection to the credit card network; and finally, a merchant account …

—Tom Negrino

Delivery charges are the No. 1 reason shoppers abandon a virtual shopping cart, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Every Internet shopper has a shipping-charge horror story.

—Ellen Neuborn

Examples of shopping cart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adding an Air France partnership to his list of achievements is just one more reason to take note of the master perfumer’s creations (and add the best women’s perfumes to your shopping cart). —Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025

The program has shoplifting cases, from as minor as someone stealing food from a grocery store to have something to eat to people loading up shopping carts to sell later. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 2 Jan. 2025

According to PayPal, 77% of consumers would abandon their shopping carts if their preferred payment method wasn’t an option. —Bartosz Skwarczek, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

As for oral care, don’t miss out on the Oral-B Pro 1000 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush that’s been added to more than 30,000 shopping carts in the past few weeks. —Isabel Garcia, People.com, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined at sense 1