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a passenger vehicle designed for operation on ordinary roads and typically having four wheels and a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine.
See also hybrid (def 5b).
of or relating to automobiles; automotive.
Contemporary Examples

Speaking of cars, higher standards have had a similar positive impact on the automobile industry.
The Best Green Idea in Obama’s Climate-Change Speech Daniel Gross June 24, 2013

He claimed that any serious conversation about poverty must include the issue of automobile access.
How Cars, Not Subways, Will Make Us Richer Scott Beyer June 3, 2014

And to turn your back on the American automobile industry is something people will remember in the next election.
LaHood: GOP Doesn’t Care About Jobs Eleanor Clift October 31, 2011

“General Motors did not start out to be a health care company that occasionally built an automobile,” Punaro said.
The H.M.O. That Kills Terrorists Eleanor Clift February 26, 2014

The idea that we own an automobile company today is staggering in its proportions.
Rick Perry on the Record Andrew Romano August 11, 2011

Historical Examples

Then all climbed into the automobile which was to take them to the railroad station.
Six Little Bunkers at Mammy June’s Laura Lee Hope

For that reason, as well as because of the fumes in his brain, he did not hear the coming of the automobile.
Way of the Lawless Max Brand

The automobile reached the crest of the hill, skidded and started toward the ditch.
Phantom of the Forest Lee Francis

The variable (an audible) part of the roadway for an automobile.
The Devil’s Dictionary Ambrose Bierce

So, with heart bounding joyously, he climbed in wid dee compny in the automobile.
Little Washington’s Relatives Lillian Elizabeth Roy

noun
another word (esp US) for car (sense 1)
adj.

1883, in reference to electric traction cars, from French automobile (adj.), 1861, a hybrid from Greek autos “self” (see auto-) + French mobile “moving,” from Latin mobilis “movable” (see mobile (adj.)).
n.

“self-propelled motor vehicle,” 1895, from French automobile, short for véhicule automobile (see automobile (adj.)). The modern Greek calls it autokineto “moved of itself.” The French word had competition in the early years from locomobile; in English other early forms were motorcar and autocar.