carrot

plural carrots

1. countableuncountableA vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, family Apiaceae, especially the subspecies sativus.

   In general, beets, carrots, and turnips are all of aphrodisiac value in erotic dietary.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 42

   Synonyms: more

2. countableuncountableA shade of orange similar to the flesh of most carrots (also called carrot orange).
3. countablefigurativelyuncountableAny motivational tool; an incentive to do something.

   In other words, carrots are out. Sticks are back.

   2026 July 10, David E. Sanger, “Bombing and a Tentative Accord Didn’t Work. Does Trump Have a Plan C for Iran?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Essentially, lawmakers replaced the sticks with carrots.

   2022 August 7, Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman, “Five Decades in the Making: Why It Took Congress So Long to Act on Climate”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   In 2022, when the Biden administration finally succeeded in passing a major climate bill, it consisted almost entirely of carrots—tax credits and subsidies for green energy.

   2023 August 7, Paul Krugman, “Climate Is Now a Culture War Issue”, in The New York Times

4. UKcountablederogatoryslanguncountableSomeone from a rural background.
5. UKcountableslanguncountableA police officer from somewhere within the British Isles, but specifically outside of Greater London.
6. countableslanguncountableA redhead; a ginger-haired person

present singular third person carrots · participle present carroting · participle past carroted · past carroted

1. transitiveTo treat (an animal pelt) with a solution of mercuric nitrate as part of felt manufacture.