carry
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæɹ.ɪ/
rhymes: -æɹi
enpr: kărʹē
note: without the Mary–marry–merry merger
ipa: /ˈkæɹ.i/
rhymes: -æɹi
note: Mary–marry–merry merger
ipa: /ˈkɛɹ.i/
note: Mary–marry–merry merger
ipa: /ˈkeɹ.i/
homophone: Carrie
homophone: Cary
homophone: Carey stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: carries
form: carrying
form: carried
form: carried
Etymology: From Middle English carien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin.
Senses: examples: text: "By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys to carry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for it would be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler."
ref: 1900, L. Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
text: Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.
ref: 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.
ref: 2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
glosses: To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
examples: text: to carry the war from Greece into Asia
text: to carry an account to the ledger
glosses: To notionally transfer from one place (such as a country, book, or column) to another.
examples: text: The builders are going to carry the chimney through the roof.
text: They would have carried the road ten miles further, but ran out of materials.
glosses: To convey by extension or continuance; to extend.
synonyms: impel
conduct
glosses: To move; to convey using force
examples: text: Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
ref: c. 1596-1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, act 5, scene 5:
text: And he carried away all his cattle […] for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 31:18:
text: Passion and revenge will carry them too far.
ref: 1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To lead or guide.
examples: text: The corner drugstore doesn’t carry his favorite brand of aspirin.
glosses: To stock or supply (something); to have in store.
examples: text: I think I can carry Smith’s work while she is out.
glosses: To adopt (something); take (something) over.
examples: text: The court carries that motion.
glosses: To adopt or resolve on, especially in a deliberative assembly
examples: text: Five and nine are fourteen; carry the one to the tens place.
topics: arithmetic
glosses: In an addition, to transfer the quantity in excess of what is countable in the units in a column to the column immediately to the left in order to be added there.
examples: text: Always carry sufficient insurance to protect against a loss.
glosses: To have, hold, possess or maintain (something).
examples: text: The sound of the bells carried for miles on the wind.
text: It might seem easy to hit the head of a barrel at that distance, but either the lads were not expert enough or else the snowballs, being of irregular shapes and rather light, did not carry well. Whatever the cause, the fact remained that the barrel received only a few scattering shots and these on the outer edges of the head.
ref: 1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine:
glosses: To be transmitted; to travel.
glosses: To insult, to diss.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To capture a ship by coming alongside and boarding.
examples: text: Nani collected the ball on the halfway line, drifted past Bryan Ruiz, and carried the ball unchallenged 50 yards down the left before picking out Welbeck for a crisp finish from seven yards.
ref: 2011 December 21, Tom Rostance, “Fulham 0-5 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To transport (the ball) whilst maintaining possession.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: For the ball, having been hit in the air, to reach a fielder without touching the ground (whether or not the fielder catches it).
examples: text: She always carries a purse.
text: Marsupials carry their young in a pouch
text: Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
ref: 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
glosses: To have on one’s person.
examples: text: The doctor said she’s carrying twins.
glosses: To be pregnant (with).
examples: text: A gun or mortar carries well.
glosses: To have propulsive power; to propel.
examples: text: to carry well, i.e. to hold the head high, with arching neck
glosses: To hold the head; said of a horse.
examples: text: The frost[…]caused the fallows and seeds to ‘carry’ a good deal, and they could only hunt very slowly.
ref: 1892, […] Field […] :
topics: hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
glosses: To have earth or frost stick to the feet when running, as a hare.
examples: text: the carrying of our main point
ref: 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation:
text: McCloughlin […] makes for the kind of fantasy girl you don't forget when the film is over. Still, she alone is not interesting enough to carry the piece.
ref: 1986 February 1, Sarah Schulman, “Lesbian Films: Still Not Enough”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 9:
glosses: To bear or uphold successfully, especially through conflict, for example a leader or principle
examples: text: The Tories carried the election.
text: The greater part carries it.
ref: c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
glosses: To succeed in (e.g. a contest); to succeed in; to win.
examples: text: The Town [of Bulloign] was both well fortified, and well manned; yet it was distressed, and ready for an Assault: which if it had been given (as was thought) would have cost much blood; but yet the Town would have been carried in the end.
ref: 1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII, page 63; republished as Francis Bacon, Francis Godwin, The History of the Reigns of Henry the Seventh, Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, and Queen Mary the First, London: R. Scot, T. Basset, J. Wright, R. Chiswell, and J. Edwyn, 1676:
text: But the gallant D’Oyley, landing at the head of his well disciplined band, immediately attacked the Spaniards in their intrenchments, carried the principal fortress by a vigorous assault, destroyed one half of Arnaldo’s forces, and compelled him to return to Cuba with the remainder […]
ref: 1803, John Browne Cutting, A Succinct History of Jamaica; published in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, volume 1, London: Longman and Rees, 1803, page xxxvii:
glosses: To get possession of by force; to capture.
examples: text: Things of little value carry great importance.
ref: 2014, Gregg Olsen, Rebecca Morris, If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of her Children:
text: It carries too great an imputation of ignorance.
ref: 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 4, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 16:
glosses: To contain; to comprise; have a particular aspect; to show or exhibit
examples: text: He carried himself so insolently in the house, and out of the house, to all persons, that he became odious.
ref: 1702-1704, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion
glosses: To bear (oneself); to behave or conduct.
examples: text: to carry a life insurance
text: A merchant is carrying a large stock.
text: A farm carries a mortgage.
text: A broker carries stock for a customer.
glosses: To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another.
examples: text: Nobody looked like they were carrying, other than those who had knives strapped to their belts, although with Alaska's new concealed-carry permit, available to anyone who trundled themselves down to the local police station to take the class, someone in this crowd could have a rocket launcher stuffed into their boot and she'd never know it.
ref: 2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 72:
glosses: To have a weapon on one's person; to be armed.
examples: text: Despite zero goals and zero assists, she still stands out for carrying her team's defense.
text: The other outfielders had no hustle, but fortunately the centerfielder carried them.
text: He absolutely carried, to the point of killing the entire enemy team by himself.
topics: games
gaming
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: (transitive or, rarely, intransitive) To be disproportionately responsible for a team's success or for counteracting teammates' underperformance.
examples: text: Will you carry me to town?
glosses: To physically transport (in the general sense, not necessarily by lifting)
examples: text: A holster can help you carry in confidence, knowing that your weapon is secure and close at hand.
glosses: To bear a firearm, such as a gun.
Synonyms: sense: lift and bring to somewhere else
word: bear
sense: lift and bring to somewhere else
word: move
sense: lift and bring to somewhere else
word: transport
sense: lift and bring to somewhere else
word: tote
sense: stock, supply
word: have
sense: stock, supply
word: keep
sense: stock, supply
word: stock
sense: stock, supply
word: supply
sense: adopt
word: adopt
sense: adopt
word: take on
sense: adopt
word: take over
sense: have, maintain
word: have
sense: have, maintain
word: maintain
topics: travel
tourism
lifestyle
transport
sense: be transmitted
word: be transmit
topics: travel
tourism
lifestyle
transport
sense: be transmitted
word: travel
word: cart
word: convey
word: drag
word: haul
word: hitch
word: hoise
word: hoist
word: lift
word: lug
word: schlep
word: shift
word: shoulder
Derived terms: as fast as one's legs could carry one
can't carry a tune in a bucket
card-carrying
carisack
carriable
carrier
carryable
carry all before one
carry a torch
carry a torch for
carry a tune
carry away
carryback
carry back
carry bag
carry coals to Newcastle
carry conviction
carry corn
carrycot
carry everything before one
carryforward
carry forward
carry-go-bring-come
carry-in
carrying basket
carrying capacity
carrying-on
carrying-pole
carrying pole
carrying the mantle
carrying violation
carryless
carry-lookahead
carry me out
carry me out and bury me decently
carry off
carry-on
carry on
carry oneself
carry one's heart on one's sleeve
carry one's heart upon one's sleeve
carry one's own hide to market
carry one's own weight
carry one's point
carry one's weight
carry-out
carry out
carry out one's bat
carry over
carry owls to Athens
carry someone's water
carrytale
carry the ball
carry the bat
carry the can
carry the day
carry the mail
carry the mantle
carry the message to Garcia
carry the torch
carry the world before one
carry through
carry trade
carry up
carry water for
carry weight
cash and carry
cash and carry trade
constitutional carry
couldn't carry a note in a bucket
diamond carry
dot and carry
dot-and-carry-one
everyday carry
fetch-and-carry
fetch and carry
firefighter's carry
hand carry
hand-carry
handcarry
headcarry
hypercarry
mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails
mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails
miscarry
noncarrying
one can't carry two watermelons under one arm
open-carry
outcarry
overcarry
Pia carry
recarry
ripple carry
speak softly and carry a big stick
talk softly and carry a big stick
walk softly and carry a big stick
water-carrying
wife carrying