A parking lot is an area of paved ground where cars, trucks, and other vehicles can be left temporarily while their drivers are somewhere else. You'll find parking lots next to grocery stores, schools, movie theaters, office buildings, and countless other places where people need to park and then walk to their destination.

Most parking lots have painted lines on the pavement that divide the space into individual parking spaces (also called parking spots). Each space is just wide enough for one vehicle. Some parking lots are free to use, while others require you to pay, either at a meter, a payment machine, or a booth with an attendant. Large parking lots might have different sections marked by letters, numbers, or colors to help people remember where they parked.

The British call this same thing a car park, which makes perfect sense when you think about it: it's a park for cars, just like a regular park is an outdoor space for people.

In American English, people sometimes use “parking lot” in an interesting way during meetings. When someone raises a topic that's important but off the current subject, someone might say, “Let's put that in the parking lot,” meaning they'll save it to discuss later rather than getting sidetracked.