cart
noun
a heavy two-wheeled vehicle, commonly without springs, drawn by mules, oxen, or the like, used for the conveyance of heavy goods.
cart
American
[kahrt]
/ kɑrt /
noun
-
carts
plural
-
a heavy two-wheeled vehicle, commonly without springs, drawn by mules, oxen, or the like, used for the conveyance of heavy goods.
-
a light two-wheeled vehicle with springs, drawn by a horse or pony.
-
any small vehicle pushed or pulled by hand.
-
Obsolete. a chariot.
verb (used with object)
-
carts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carted,
past participle, past
-
carting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
carts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carted,
past participle, past
-
carting
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
-
put the cart before the horse, to do or place things in improper order; be illogical.
-
on the water cart, wagon.
cart
1
British
/ kɑːt /
noun
-
a heavy open vehicle, usually having two wheels and drawn by horses, used in farming and to transport goods
-
a light open horse-drawn vehicle having two wheels and springs, for business or pleasure
-
any small vehicle drawn or pushed by hand, such as a trolley
-
to reverse the usual or natural order of things
verb
-
(usually tr) to use or draw a cart to convey (goods, etc)
to cart groceries
-
(tr) to carry with effort; haul
to cart wood home
CART
2
British
abbreviation
cart
3
British
/ kɑːt /
noun
cart
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cartsimple
-
cartssimple
-
have cartedperfect
-
has cartedperfect
-
am cartingprogressive
-
are cartingprogressive
-
is cartingprogressive
-
have been cartingperfect progressive
-
has been cartingperfect progressive
Past
-
cartedsimple
-
had cartedperfect
-
was cartingprogressive
-
were cartingprogressive
-
had been cartingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cart
before 900; Middle English cart ( e ), Old English cræt (by metathesis); cognate with Old Norse kartr cart
Explanation
A cart is a vehicle with wheels that's pulled by an animal, a person, or by another vehicle. You could attach a cart to your dog and teach him to pull it around. The typical cart is hooked up to a draft horse or another farm animal. Other kinds of carts include hand carts, which can be stacked with heavy items and easily pushed or pulled by people; and golf carts, which are open vehicles that are powered by electricity or gasoline. When you cart something around, you lug it or transport it. The word cart comes from a Scandinavian source, probably the Old Norse kartr.
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:
A ceramic dog and monkey sit on a golf cart inside the Dodger Stadium landscape team’s shed on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
You can watch your future grocery bill in transit: The stage of the producer-price index furthest from your cart rose 3.2% in May, the biggest jump since 2009.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
It was a picture of Allyson and Jordan riding in a golf cart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
The cart, constructed primarily from wood and styrofoam, carried dummies and was repeatedly transported back to the starting point for a continuous ride through a push and pull system.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
He walked away from me then, going around the side of the house for his brothers’ fishing ropes, reaching for the cart to carry them, using his wrists rather than his hands.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
During his ownership of the property, the racing legend has enjoyed an impressive career across an array of auto arenas, including Nascar, IndyCar, CART, and the Dakar Rally.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025
Goldman Sachs and J.P.Morgan are the lead underwriters for the offering, Instacart said, adding that its shares would be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol "CART."
From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2023
But the F1 sanctioning fees were exorbitant and promoters rebranded the race for CART, which was the U.S.-based open-wheel series at the time.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2022
In bringing the series to Las Vegas, Bernard hoped to jolt the series back to life after more than decade of lagging crowds and ratings spawned by the series’ bitter 1996 split with CART.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2011
Another time I give her CART, and then chalked the same upon the cart.
From Dickens As an Educator by James L. (James Laughlin) Hughes
In the 18th Century, during the French Revolution, it was rescued from being cut up to make covers for soldiers' carts.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Street food isn’t just hawker carts and smoke-filled alleys.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Where Mona believed any outfit could benefit from a splash of animal print and kitten heels, I found fashion inspiration from behind the wheels of oversize red shopping carts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
This incredible access to food—from carts of dim sum in Chinatown to the perfectly chewy Upper West Side bagels I was raised on—instilled in me a lifelong appreciation and appetite for food of all kinds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The footpath led Hazel to a bigger path, the sort that might accommodate carts.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Chicago Bears fans also probably reacted with similar words when star quarterback Caleb Williams was carted off the field with a hamstring injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
What made this family silver different from all the other items I have carted away?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Paramedics meanwhile carted away a young woman suffering from apparent heat exhaustion.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
The Red Roses always looked in control of the game but one area of concern will be the loss of another lock after Morwenna Talling was carted off on a stretcher.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
The younger woman kissed and laughed and rushed about collecting our coats and getting our luggage carted off.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
But when a delivery service is carting cash around town instead of a lukewarm burrito, the stakes and security concerns, obviously, are higher.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 14, 2025
She compares carting the demo reel around Hollywood to “what the Avon lady goes through.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
The parade of dump trucks carting out tons of wreckage buckled the streets; repaving operations continue today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
"He absolutely showed that he was scared by the explosions but he got used to it and was carting artillery around the place in big boxes."
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2024
Think of the gasoline expended, the treads worn carting him to football games, basketball tournaments, and Little League.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
