carry

  • verb (carries, carried) 1 move or transport from one place to another. 2 have on one’s person wherever one goes. 3 support the weight of. 4 assume or accept (responsibility or blame). 5 have as a feature or consequence: the bike carries a ten-year guarantee. 6 conduct or transmit. 7 take or develop (an idea or activity) to a particular point. 8 approve (a proposed measure) by a majority of votes: the motion was carried by one vote. 9 persuade to support one’s policy. publish or broadcast. (of a sound or voice) travel a specific distance: his voice carried clearly across the room. (carry oneself) stand and move in a specified way. be pregnant with.

  • noun (pl. carries) an act of carrying.

  — PHRASES be/get carried away lose self-control. carry all before one overcome all opposition. carry the can Brit. informal take responsibility for a mistake or misdeed. carry the day be victorious or successful. carry forward transfer (figures) to a new page or account. carry off 1 take away by force. 2 (of a disease) kill. 3 succeed in doing. carry on 1 continue. 2 engage in (an activity). 3 informal, chiefly Brit. be engaged in a love affair. carry out perform (a task). carry over 1 keep to use or deal with in a new context. 2 postpone. carry through bring to completion. carry weight be influential.

  — ORIGIN Old French carier, from Latin carrus ‘wheeled vehicle’.

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