Carry
Pronunciation
Origin
From Middle English carrien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French: charrier). Replaced native Middle English ferien ("to carry, transport, convey") (from Old English ferian) and Middle English aberen ("to carry, bear, endure") (from Old English Äberan).
Full definition of carry
Verb
- (transitive) To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23"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."
- 2013-06-29, Unspontaneous combustion, 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.
- To transfer from one place (such as a country, book, or column) to another.to carry the war from Greece into Asiato carry an account to the ledger
- To convey by extension or continuance; to extend.The builders are going to carry the chimney through the roof.They would have carried the road ten miles further, but ran out of materials.
- (transitive, mostly, archaic) To move; to convey by force; to impel; to conduct; to lead or guide.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
- Bible, Genesis xxxi. 18He carried away all his cattle.
- John Locke (1632-1705)Passion and revenge will carry them too far.
- (transitive) To stock or supply (something).The corner drugstore doesn't carry his favorite brand of aspirin.
- (transitive) To adopt (something); take (something) over.I think I can carry Smith's work while she is out.
- (transitive) To adopt or resolve upon, especially in a deliberative assembly; as, to carry a motion.
- (transitive, arithmetic) 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.Five and nine are fourteen; carry the one to the tens place.
- (transitive) To have or maintain (something).Always carry sufficient insurance to protect against a loss.
- (intransitive) To be transmitted; to travel.The sound of the bells carried for miles on the wind.
- 1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, Baseball Joe on the School Nine Chapter 1It 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.
- (slang, transitive) To insult, to diss.
- (transitive, nautical) To capture a ship by coming alongside and boarding.
- (transitive, sports) To transport (the ball) whilst maintaining possession.
- 2011, December 21, Tom Rostance, Fulham 0-5 Man Utd, 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.
- (transitive) To have on one's "person" (see examples).she always carries a purse; marsupials carry their young in a pouch
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 10, 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.
- 2013-07-20, Old soldiers?, 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.
- To have propulsive power; to propel.A gun or mortar carries well.
- To hold the head; said of a horse.to carry well, i.e. to hold the head high, with arching neck
- (hunting) To have earth or frost stick to the feet when running, as a hare.
- To bear or uphold successfully through conflict, as a leader or principle; hence, to succeed in, as in a contest; to bring to a successful issue; to win.The Tories carried the election.
- ShakespeareThe greater part carries it.
- Addisonthe carrying of our main point
- (obsolete) To get possession of by force; to capture.
- Francis BaconThe town would have been carried in the end.
- To contain; to comprise; to bear the aspect of; to show or exhibit; to imply.
- WattsHe thought it carried something of argument in it.
- John LockeIt carries too great an imputation of ignorance.
- (reflexive) To bear (oneself); to behave or conduct.
- ClarendonHe carried himself so insolently in the house, and out of the house, to all persons, that he became odious.
- To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another.A merchant is carrying a large stock; a farm carries a mortgage; a broker carries stock for a customer; to carry a life insurance.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (in arithmetic) borrow the equivalent reverse procedure in the inverse operation of subtraction
Derived terms
Noun
carry
(plural carries)- A manner of transporting or lifting something; the grip or position in which something is carried.Adjust your carry from time to time so that you don't tire too quickly.
- A tract of land over which boats or goods are carried between two bodies of navigable water; a portage.
- (computing) The bit or digit that is carried in an addition.