A pushcart is a small wheeled cart that one person can move by pushing or pulling it. Unlike cars or wagons that need horses or engines, a pushcart relies entirely on human power. Think of a shopping cart at the grocery store: that's a modern type of pushcart.

For centuries, pushcarts were vital tools for street vendors selling food, flowers, newspapers, or goods in crowded cities. A hot dog vendor might push their cart to a busy corner each morning, or a fruit seller might roll their cart through neighborhoods calling out what they had for sale. Before trucks and delivery vans became common, pushcarts were how many small business owners transported and displayed their merchandise.

The word can describe any small cart designed for pushing: a mail cart rolling through an office building, a library cart loaded with books, or a street vendor's cart selling pretzels in New York City. Some pushcarts have two wheels, some have four. What makes them all pushcarts is that simple idea: they're carts meant to be pushed or pulled by a person walking alongside or behind them.