cry carrots and turnips

verb

To be taken through the streets on a cart while being whipped, as a punishment for certain crimes.

First used 18th c.
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Meanings

verbcry carrots and turnips (third-person singular simple present cries carrots and turnips, present participle crying carrots and turnips, simple past and past participle cried carrots and turnips)

present singular third person cries carrots and turnips · participle present crying carrots and turnips · participle past cried carrots and turnips · past cried carrots and turnips

  1. obsoleteslangTo be taken through the streets on a cart while being whipped, as a punishment for certain crimes.First known use 18th c.

    I had a mighty queer adventure in communion with that foul toad, Titus Oates, whom I afterwards rejoiced to see crying carrots and turnips, with all London looking on.

    1895, H. B. Marriott Watson, “Of a Meeting at Fulham”, in The Chap-Book: Semi-Monthly, Chicago, I.L.: Stone & Kimball, page 483

Origin

Probably referring to the vegetables which spectators would pelt at the person drawn on the cart. Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests that the term is of onomatopoeic origin.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cry carrots and turnips. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20carrots%20and%20turnips

MLA

“cry carrots and turnips.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20carrots%20and%20turnips. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cry carrots and turnips,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20carrots%20and%20turnips.

Source: cry carrots and turnips on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.