What is a trolley?
Q: What is a trolley?
A: A trolley is a small vehicle with wheels that can carry things. People can push trolleys.
Q: What are some different kinds of trolleys?
A: There are shopping trolleys which are used in supermarkets and other large stores with self-service, tea-trolleys which are traditionally used in the house for plates, cups, saucers and sandwiches and cakes for afternoon tea, and airport or railway station trolleys to carry luggage.
Q: How do customers use shopping trolleys?
A: Customers can put things they want to buy in the shopping trolley and then pay for everything at the checkout. Usually they are then allowed to wheel the trolley with the things they have bought out to their car. Sometimes the customers have to pay a small deposit when collecting a trolley. The customer puts in a coin (in Britain a £1 coin) which he can have back again when he parks the trolley back in the chain. Deposits are not refundable.
Q: Where else besides homes and supermarkets might people find tea-trolleys?
A: Tea-trolleys may also be found in hospitals and offices to take cups of tea and coffee to people.
Q: In American English what does "trolley" mean?
A: In American English "trolley" can refer to a tram (or streetcar). This should not be confused with a trolleybus which is a bus that uses electricity from an overhead cable (like a tram).
Q: How does one differentiate between trams/streetcars and buses using electricity from an overhead cable?
A: Trams/streetcars run on tracks while buses using electricity from an overhead cable do not run on tracks but instead use electricity from an overhead cable for power.
