The Collaborative International Dictionary
taxicab \tax"i*cab\, n. an automobile with a professional driver which can be hired to carry passengers; -- also called a taxi, and informally called a cab or a hack. The driver of a taxicab is referred to as a cab driver or cabbie, and sometimes as a chauffeur or hackie.
Note: Taxicabs may be engaged by a prior appointment made, e.g. by telephone, or they may cruise for passengers, i.e. they may drive in city streets and stop to pick up pasengers when they are signalled by a prospective passenger. The act of signalling a taxicab (usually by a wave of the arm) is often called
Usage examples of "to hail a cab".
He deplaned, stretched his muscles as he strode through the terminal and, slipping on his leather flight jacket, went out into a misty rain to hail a cab.
Not wanting to fight the five o'clock traffic, and knowing it would be nearly impossible to hail a cab, Maureen carried her purchases as she made her way back to Central Park.
It was twenty after five when she finally managed to hail a cab, and it was ten of six before she opened the door of her apartment.
While Winkler scanned the traffic to see who might be risking life and limb to pursue him, the watcher was a few feet away, pretending to hail a cab.
I went to the curb to hail a cab, then decided I might as well walk half a block to Columbus and get one going in the right direction.
I dropped a five cee note on the table, tucked the paper under my arm, and tried to look casual as I went outside to hail a cab.
Keats had produced a coin, and Sybil understood that he wished the boy to hail a cab for her, but now the wet eyes gleamed at them with alarm, the pale face hollowed by gaslight.
She stepped to the curb to hail a cab to take her downtown to the restaurant.
They closed the door behind them, straightened their clothes and went downstairs to hail a cab.