From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpassengerpas‧sen‧ger /ˈpæsɪndʒə, -sən- $ -ər/ ●●● S3 W2 noun [countable] 1 TTsomeone who is travelling in a vehicle, plane, boat etc, but is not driving it or working on it Neither the driver nor the passengers were hurt.passenger train/plane/ship a crash involving a passenger trainbus/rail/airline passengers Rail passengers now face even longer delays.► see thesaurus at travel2 British EnglishSHARE someone in a group who does not do their share of the group’s work The company can’t afford to carry any passengers.COLLOCATIONSverbscarry passengersThe aeroplane was carrying over 500 passengers.passengers travel somewhereMore than 7.6m rail passengers travelled on the Eurostar rail service last year.passengers get on/off a bus/plane etcThe bus stopped and half the passengers got off.passengers board a plane/train formal (=get on it)The first three cars were reserved for passengers boarding in Queens.passengers are stranded (=are unable to continue their journey)At least 1,000 passengers were stranded at the airport because of the storm.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + passengerrail passengersRail passengers will have to pay more for their tickets next year.airline passengersAll airline passengers arriving at Heathrow must go through customs.bus passengersBus passengers are facing higher fares.foot passengers (=passengers on a boat, who are not in a car or other vehicle)A queue of foot passengers was waiting to get on the ferry.passenger + NOUNa passenger train (=rather than a goods train)The driver of the passenger train was unable to stop in time.a passenger plane/jetIt was recently converted from a passenger plane to cargo use.a passenger shipIt is the biggest passenger ship afloat.
Examples from the Corpus
passenger• The following table shows how many litres of petrol per 100 passenger kilometres different modes of transport consume.• Police Superintendent Tony Thompson said 144 passengers had booked tickets, but there could have been more or fewer aboard.• About 70 of the train's 500 passengers were injured in the crash.• Several justices voiced doubt about the wisdom of giving police automatic authority to tell all passengers to get out of a car.• It was like a shipwreck, where the resourceful child passenger becomes the first mate.• The local Station served the surrounding community and carried a fair amount of passenger and freight traffic.• Some allowance must be made for the large number of passengers without tickets in 1922.• The airport was jammed with thousands of passengers from delayed or cancelled flights.• The driver and all three passengers were killed in the crash.passenger train/plane/ship• A big one - a passenger ship!• The 11.00 on Good Friday was the first passenger train over the rebuilt Rheidol Bridge which is a particulary fine structure.• Amtrak also runs its passenger trains on this stretch.• Even the Sun Princess' status as the newest passenger ship lasted less than a month.• No passenger train ever stops here.• BAe will join forces with the Far East firm to produce passenger planes for regional travel.• The engine on the passenger train is the same one that was involved in the Hatfield train disaster.From Longman Business Dictionarypassengerpas‧sen‧ger /ˈpæsəndʒə-ər/ noun [countable]1TRAVELsomeone who is travelling in a vehicle, plane, boat etc, but is not driving it or working on itBusiness passengers wishing to relax in comfort before their flight can use the Business Wing Airport Lounge facilities at Glasgow Airport.2British English someone in a group who does not do their share of the group’s workThe company can’t afford to carry any passengers.Origin passenger (1300-1400) Old French passager, from passage; → PASSAGE 