carpet
Americannoun
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carpets
plural
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a heavy fabric, commonly of wool or nylon, for covering floors.
-
a covering of this material.
-
any relatively soft surface or covering like a carpet.
They walked on the carpet of grass.
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any of a number of airborne electronic devices for jamming radar.
-
a system of such devices.
verb (used with object)
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carpets,
present (3rd person singular)
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carpeted,
past participle, past
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carpeting
present participle
-
to cover or furnish with or as with a carpet.
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Chiefly British. to reprimand.
idioms
noun
-
-
a heavy fabric for covering floors
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( as modifier )
a carpet sale
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-
a covering like a carpet
a carpet of leaves
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informal
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before authority to be reproved for misconduct or error
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under consideration
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verb
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to cover with or as if with a carpet
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informal to reprimand
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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recarpetverb (used with object)
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carpetlessadjective
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carpetlikeadjective
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uncarpetedadjective
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well-carpetedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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carpetsimple
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carpetssimple
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have carpetedperfect
-
has carpetedperfect
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am carpetingprogressive
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are carpetingprogressive
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is carpetingprogressive
-
have been carpetingperfect progressive
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has been carpetingperfect progressive
Past
-
carpetedsimple
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had carpetedperfect
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was carpetingprogressive
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were carpetingprogressive
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had been carpetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of carpet
1300–50; Middle English carpete cloth covering for a table, floor, bed, etc. < Middle French carpite or Medieval Latin carpīta < Italian carpita woolen bedspread < Vulgar Latin *carpīta, past participle of carpīre, for Latin carpere to pluck, card (wool)
Explanation
A carpet is a thick, woven floor covering. Most carpets cover the whole floor in a room, as opposed to a rug, which only covers a small section. Carpets are made from polyester fibers, or wool, or nylon — most often, these soft materials are loops or strings that form the carpet's "pile," and are attached to a solid backing. A carpet can be very densely woven and flat, or it can be tufted and thick. To carpet means to cover something as if with a carpet: "Then the snow carpets the ground, and winter is here."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“They can kind of go out and carpet bomb and know that they might not be as efficient, but they’re gonna hit the mark. We don’t have that luxury.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Everyone paused to watch the red carpet arrival of the king himself: George R. R. Martin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Inside there was a red carpet littered with fake petals ready for a proposal.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
You can see their devotion in outdoor backdrops that are deliriously false, in sight gags that reference Cronenberg and Carpenter or in production design that includes the perfect nostalgic ’90s video store carpet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
I’m a step behind—and skid to a stop on the carpet.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
She panics on red carpets and says interviews make her nervous, although she certainly doesn’t seem it today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Hollywood power couple Tom Holland and Zendaya have been dominating red carpets all summer.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Backrooms began with a single unsettling image posted anonymously online: a claustrophobic warren of tawdrily yellow, windowless rooms with aged carpets and harsh overhead fluorescent lights.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
And on red carpets and film festivals, you can find movie and industry leaders feeding their four favorite films into a microphone emblazoned with Letterboxd’s orange, green and blue dot logo.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
It made people shy when they walked on it, since carpets were not originally intended for mere floors.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Swaths of the region are carpeted in grasses that each year grow and then die, creating what Acuña described as a patchwork of layers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
That the world is made of green fields carpeted with sweet grass, where nothing bad ever happens.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
Trump shared photos of the suspected shooter, shirtless and in handcuffs facedown on a carpeted floor, in what appears to be the Hilton lobby.
From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026
On a recent spring day, the road that runs alongside the Guadalupe River leading up to Mystic was carpeted with purple wildflowers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Garlands of flowers hung from every house and shop and carpeted the streets.
From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster
The seats themselves are crappy and hard; the upholstery might as well be outdoor carpeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Working together, the couple removed the shag carpeting and wood paneling from the first floor and the stairway, installing drywall in their place.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Upon entering the abode, guests are greeted with green carpeting that leads to a white staircase.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
Called bonus depreciation, the tax break applies to purchases such as new carpeting or appliances for owners of rental properties, or new computer equipment or a vehicle for business owners.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
I liked this new interaction with people—asking seemingly innocent questions about how much they loved their furniture or wall-to-wall carpeting.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
