container

The word “container” means an object, such as a box, jar, or bottle, used for holding or storing something. In plain terms, something built to hold other things inside it, whether it is a lunchbox, a shipping crate, or a piece of software.

“Container” is pronounced kuhn-TAY-nuh (/kənˈteɪ.nəɹ/ in IPA).

Here is “container” used in a sentence: “She poured the leftover soup into a plastic container.”

Words with a similar meaning to “container” include receptacle.

“Container” is a noun.

The word “container” comes from Middle English. From Middle English conteyner — contain + the agent suffix -er.

“Container” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Container” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an object, such as a box, jar, or bottle, used for holding or storing something.

Both mean an object that holds or stores something, but "container" is the everyday word for boxes, jars, and bottles, while "receptacle" is more formal and often names something items are put into, such as a litter receptacle. In North American technical usage, "receptacle" can also mean an electrical outlet, a sense "container" never has.

A shipping container is a large standardized metal box used to transport goods by ship, rail, or truck. Because the sizes are standardized, the same sealed container can move between different transport modes without its contents being repacked, which is the basis of modern intermodal freight.

In computing, a container is a lightweight, self-contained package of software together with everything it needs to run — code, libraries, and settings — executing in an isolated environment. Containers, popularized by tools such as Docker, let the same application run consistently on different machines.

Both isolate software, but a virtual machine emulates an entire computer with its own operating system, while a container shares the host machine's operating-system kernel and packages only the application and its dependencies. Containers are therefore much smaller and faster to start, whereas virtual machines provide stronger, fuller isolation.