carry

present singular third person carries · participle present carrying · participle past carried · past carried

1. transitiveTo lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.

   "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."

   1900, L. Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

   2 more examples

   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.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   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.

   2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 29

2. transitiveTo notionally transfer from one place (such as a country, book, or column) to another.

   to carry an account to the ledger

   1 more example

   to carry the war from Greece into Asia

3. transitiveTo convey by extension or continuance; to extend.

   The builders are going to carry the chimney through the roof.

   1 more example

   They would have carried the road ten miles further, but ran out of materials.

4. archaictransitiveTo move; to convey using force

   Synonyms: impel, conduct

5. transitiveTo lead or guide.

   Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.

   c. 1596-1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, act 5, scene 5

   2 more examples

   And he carried away all his cattle […] for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 31:18

   Passion and revenge will carry them too far.

   1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC

6. transitiveTo stock or supply (something); to have in store.

   The corner drugstore doesn’t carry his favorite brand of aspirin.

   Synonyms: have, keep, stock, supply

7. transitiveTo adopt (something); take (something) over.

   I think I can carry Smith’s work while she is out.

   Synonyms: adopt, take on, take over

8. transitiveTo adopt or resolve on, especially in a deliberative assembly

   The court carries that motion.

9. transitivearithmeticIn 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.

10. transitiveTo have, hold, possess or maintain (something).

    Always carry sufficient insurance to protect against a loss.

    Synonyms: have, maintain

11. intransitiveTo be transmitted; to travel.

    The sound of the bells carried for miles on the wind.

    1 more example

    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.

    1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine

    Synonyms: be transmit, travel

12. slangtransitiveTo insult, to diss.
13. transitivenauticalTo capture a ship by coming alongside and boarding.
14. transitivehobbiesTo transport (the ball) whilst maintaining possession.

    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.

    2011 December 21, Tom Rostance, “Fulham 0-5 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport

15. intransitiveball gamesFor the ball, having been hit in the air, to reach a fielder without touching the ground (whether or not the fielder catches it).
16. transitiveTo have on one’s person.

    She always carries a purse.

    3 more examples

    Marsupials carry their young in a pouch

    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.

    1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

    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.

    2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

17. intransitiveTo do the job of a caddy.

    I always carry for Mr. Pendergast.

18. To be pregnant (with).

    The doctor said she’s carrying twins.

19. To have propulsive power; to propel.

    A gun or mortar carries well.

20. To hold the head; said of a horse.

    to carry well, i.e. to hold the head high, with arching neck

21. hobbiesTo have earth or frost stick to the feet when running, as a hare.

    The frost[…]caused the fallows and seeds to ‘carry’ a good deal, and they could only hunt very slowly.

    1892, […] Field […]

22. To bear or uphold successfully, especially through conflict, for example a leader or principle

    the carrying of our main point

    1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation

    1 more example

    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.

    1986 February 1, Sarah Schulman, “Lesbian Films: Still Not Enough”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 9

23. To succeed in (e.g. a contest); to succeed in; to win.

    The Tories carried the election.

    1 more example

    The greater part carries it.

    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]

24. obsoleteTo get possession of by force; to capture.

    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.

    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

    1 more example

    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 […]

    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

25. To contain; to comprise; have a particular aspect; to show or exhibit

    Things of little value carry great importance.

    2014, Gregg Olsen, Rebecca Morris, If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of her Children

    1 more example

    It carries too great an imputation of ignorance.

    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

26. reflexiveTo bear (oneself); to behave or conduct.

    He carried himself so insolently in the house, and out of the house, to all persons, that he became odious.

    1702-1704, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion

27. To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another.

    to carry a life insurance

    3 more examples

    A merchant is carrying a large stock.

    A farm carries a mortgage.

    A broker carries stock for a customer.

28. intransitiveTo have a weapon on one's person; to be armed.

    1 more example

    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.

    2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 72

29. games(transitive or, rarely, intransitive) To be disproportionately responsible for a team's success or for counteracting teammates' underperformance.

    He absolutely carried, to the point of killing the entire enemy team by himself.

    2 more examples

    Despite zero goals and zero assists, she still stands out for carrying her team's defense.

    The other outfielders had no hustle, but fortunately the centerfielder carried them.

30. Southern USTo physically transport (in the general sense, not necessarily by lifting)

    Will you carry me to town?

31. CanadaUSTo bear a firearm, such as a gun.

    A holster can help you carry in confidence, knowing that your weapon is secure and close at hand.

plural carries

1. 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.

   1 more example

   When he and his Cincinnati Bengal playmates were done with the AFC’s best defense, that of the New York-New Jersey Jets, he had done Supermannish damage — 30 carries, 139 yards and two TDs — as the Bengals won, 36-19.

   1988 October 10, Gary Nuhn, “Bengals put Jets, ghosts of ’87 to rest”, in Dayton Daily News, volume 112, number 31, Dayton, Ohio, page 1-B

2. A tract of land over which boats or goods are carried between two bodies of navigable water; a portage.

   Undrowned, unducked, as safe from the perils of the broad lake as we had come out of the defiles of the rapids, we landed at the carry below the dam at the lake’s outlet.

   1862, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 10, page 533

3. computingThe bit or digit that is carried in an addition operation.

   On paper, simply add the carry to the next addition; that is, $B2 + $9C + 1. That’s fine for paper, but how is it done by computer?

   1988, Michael A. Miller, The 68000 Microprocessor, page 45

4. businessThe benefit or cost of owning an asset over time.

   The carry on this trade is 25 basis points per annum.

5. golfThe distance travelled by the ball when struck, until it hits the ground.
6. businessCarried interest.
7. UKdialectalThe sky; cloud-drift.
8. especiallyslanggamesSomething or someone regarded as disproportionately responsible for the success of a playthrough, match, round, etc.

   Near-synonym: MVP

   Synonyms: MVP

plural Carrys

1. A surname.