What does "carry" mean?
Carry: Devout men carried Stephen to his burial. Acts viii, 2. Another carried the intelligence to Russell. Macaulay. The sound will be carried, at the least, twenty miles. Bacon.
Additional senses
- 2.To have or hold as a burden, while moving from place to place; to have upon or about one's person; to bear; as, to carry a wound; to carry an unborn child. If the ideas . . . were carried along with us in our minds. Locke.
- 3.To move; to convey by force; to impel; to conduct; to lead or guide. Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet. Shak. He carried away all his cattle. Gen. xxxi.
- 4.Passion and revenge will carry them too far. Locke.
- 5.To transfer from one place (as a country, book, or column) to another; as, to carry the war from Greece into Asia; to carry an account to the ledger; to carry a number in adding figures.
- 6.To convey by extension or continuance; to extend; as, to carry the chimney through the roof; to carry a road ten miles farther.
- 7.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; as, to carry an election. "The greater part carries it." Shak. The carrying of our main point. Addison.
- 8.To get possession of by force; to capture. The town would have been carried in the end. Bacon.
- 9.To contain; to comprise; to bear the aspect of ; to show or exhibit; to imply. He thought it carried something of argument in it. Watts. It carries too great an imputation of ignorance. Lacke.
- 10.To bear (one's self); to behave, to conduct or demean; -- with the refexive pronouns. He carried himself so insolently in the house, and out of the house, to all persons, that he became odious. Clarendon.
- 11.To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another; as, a merchant is carrying a large stock; a farm carries a mortgage; a broker carries stock for a customer; to carry a life insurance. Carry arms (Mil. Drill), a command of the Manual of Arms directing the soldier to hold his piece in the right hand, the barrel resting against the hollow of the shoulder in a nearly perpendicular position. In this position the soldier is said to stand, and the musket to be held, at carry. -- To carry all before one, to overcome all obstacles; to have uninterrupted success. -- To carry arms (a) To bear weapons. (b) To serve as a soldier. -- To carry away. (a) (Naut.) to break off; to lose; as, to carry away a fore-topmast. (b) To take possession of the mind; to charm; to delude; as, to be carried by music, or by temptation. -- To carry coals, to bear indignities tamely, a phrase used by early dramatists, perhaps from the mean nature of the occupation. Halliwell. -- To carry coals to Newcastle, to take things to a place where they already abound; to lose one's labor. -- To carry off (a) To remove to a distance. (b) To bear away as from the power or grasp of others. (c) To remove from life; as, the plague carried off thousands. -- To carry on (a) To carry farther; to advance, or help forward; to continue; as, to carry on a design. (b) To manage, conduct, or prosecute; as, to carry on husbandry or trade. -- To carry out. (a) To bear from within. (b) To put into execution; to bring to a successful issue. (c) To sustain to the end; to continue to the end. -- To carry through. (a) To convey through the midst of. (b) To support to the end; to sustain, or keep from falling, or being subdued. "Grace will carry us . . . through all difficulties." Hammond. (c) To complete; to bring to a succesful issue; to succeed. -- To carry up, to convey or extend in an upward course or direction; to build. -- To carry weight. (a) To be handicapped; to have an extra burden, as when one rides or runs. "He carries weight, he rides a race" Cowper. (b) To have influence.
- 12.To act as a bearer; to convey anything; as, to fetch and carry.
- 13.To have propulsive power; to propel; as, a gun or mortar carries well.
- 14.To hold the head; -- said of a horse; as, to carry well i. e., to hold the head high, with arching neck.
- 15.(Hunting) To have earth or frost stick to the feet when running, as a hare. Johnson. To carry on, to behave in a wild, rude, or romping manner. [Colloq.]
- 16.A tract of land, over which boats or goods are carried between two bodies of navigable water; a carrying place; a portage. Etym: [U.S.]
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00