motor vehicle

motor vehicle (plural motor vehicles)

1. Any land-based means of transportation in the form of a machine that operates primarily through a motor to provide power to rotate the tires.

By tradition, the term is idiomatically restricted to conveyances heavier than bicycles and scooters, despite that those might be motorized and might be considered vehicles; thus, a highway sign saying "motor vehicles only" forbids e-bikes but not motorcycles.

• motor car (motorcar) (as well as car in that same sense)
• motor truck (motortruck) (as well as truck in that same sense)