carol
noun
a song, especially of joy.
carol
1 American
[kar-uhl]
/ ˈkær əl /
noun
-
carols
plural
-
a song, especially of joy.
-
a Christmas song or hymn.
-
a seat in a bay window or oriel.
-
a compartment in a cloister, similar to a carrel.
-
a kind of circular dance.
verb (used without object)
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carols,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caroled,
past participle, past
-
carolled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
caroling,
present participle
-
carolling
present participle (especially British)
-
to sing Christmas songs or hymns, especially in a group performing in a public place or going from house to house.
-
to sing, especially in a lively, joyous manner; warble.
verb (used with object)
-
carols,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caroled,
past participle, past
-
carolled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
caroling,
present participle
-
carolling
present participle (especially British)
-
to sing joyously.
-
to praise or celebrate in song.
Carol
2
American
[kar-uhl]
/ ˈkær əl /
noun
Carol.
3
American
abbreviation
carol
British
/ ˈkærəl /
noun
-
a joyful hymn or religious song, esp one (a Christmas carol ) celebrating the birth of Christ
-
archaic an old English circular dance
verb
-
(intr) to sing carols at Christmas
-
to sing (something) in a joyful manner
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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carolernoun
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carolingnoun
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outcarolverb (used with object)
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uncaroledadjective
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uncarolledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
carolsimple
-
carolssimple
-
have caroledperfect
-
have carolledperfect
-
has caroledperfect
-
has carolledperfect
-
am carolingprogressive
-
am carollingprogressive
-
are carolingprogressive
-
are carollingprogressive
-
is carolingprogressive
-
is carollingprogressive
-
have been carolingperfect progressive
-
have been carollingperfect progressive
-
has been carolingperfect progressive
-
has been carollingperfect progressive
Past
-
caroledsimple
-
carolledsimple
-
had caroledperfect
-
had carolledperfect
-
was carolingprogressive
-
was carollingprogressive
-
were carolingprogressive
-
were carollingprogressive
-
had been carolingperfect progressive
-
had been carollingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of carol
1250–1300; Middle English carole ring, circle (of stones), enclosed place for study ( see carrel), ringdance with song (hence, song) < Anglo-French carole, Old French *corole (compare Old Provençal corola ), apparently < Latin corolla garland ( see corolla), conflated with Latin choraula < Greek choraúlēs piper for choral dance, equivalent to chor ( ós ) chorus + -aulēs, derivative of aulós pipe
Explanation
A carol is a religious song that's sung around Christmas time. In some towns, people who celebrate Christmas go to neighbors' houses and sing carols. The most well-known carols are Christmas carols, but word applies to other religious songs as well. Various hymns and folk songs are sometimes called carols, and you can use the word as a verb to mean "sing a carol." In the 14th century, carol meant "to sing," but also "to dance in a ring," from the Old French carole, "ring dance accompanied by singers," probably from the Greek khoraules, "flute player who accompanies the dance."
Vocabulary lists containing carol
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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Let's Go Caroling, List 3
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The School for Good and Evil
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
She was also given police protection at a carol service where she was the special guest.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
A Ukrainian choir sang a carol, with many of the group's singers in the UK because of the war.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2025
Britain's Princess Catherine and her daughter Charlotte have teamed up to perform a piano duet in a prerecorded clip for a Wednesday replay of a Christmas carol service.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
This is not the first time Catherine - who has passed her grade three piano and grade five theory - has played at a carol service.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
The surge in carol composition around this time, notably in northern Europe, was partly inspired by an earlier Italian tradition of tuneful sacred songs welcoming the Christ-child’s nativity.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
David Porter, co-founder with his wife, Carol, of Roaming Boomers Travel Services, said bookings are up 20% this year, with most for cruises on small luxury ships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Carol Wallace, from Coleraine, said her late husband had been in Causeway Hospital several times and she had found it easy to visit him because the hospital was close to home.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
But mum-of-five Carol, from Stockport, welcomes the changes at her children's school.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The painstaking animation and tracking process involved months of additional rehearsal and shooting with dancer Carol Haney, the live model for Scheherazade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Miss Carol could have called the janitor on the intercom.
From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake
A waiter friend said, “You have nothing to complain about, Carol. You found your soul mate, the love of your life. The rest of us may never find what you have.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2022
At times, she recalled, she would advocate for an individual to be released, and a fellow board member would respond, “He’s playing you, Carol. He’s got your number.”
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 25, 2019
Carol enjoyed something of a return to “I am Carol. Do not fudge with Carol” mode too.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 12, 2017
“When I call your name, come stand behind the table if you’re with me, or go over by the door if you’re with Carol. Got it?”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Girl Scouts sing carols as onlookers sip cocoa at the annual lighting ceremony.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
The dazzling display of lights, accompanied by religious and festive imagery and soundtracked by Filipino rap and Christmas carols, is part of the annual Giant Lantern Festival.
From Barron's ● Dec. 19, 2025
Walk through any mall at this time of year and you’re bound to hear the typical sounds of the season: Christmas carols.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
The smell of roasted almonds, caramelised apples, chocolate-coated fruit, mulled wine and grilled sausages fills the air, as Christmas carols are performed live on a stage and children enjoy a small, sparkling Ferris wheel.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
The northern European carols ‘Personent hodie’ and ‘Gaudete’, as well as the tune of ‘Good King Wenceslas’, all have their origins in earlier plainchant melodies.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
“For he’s a jolly good patient, for he’s a jolly good patient, for he’s a jolly good patient, which no one can deny!” the staff caroled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
Crystal’s uncle, a professional Santa, was at home with the sniffles, but the group still caroled before perplexed motorists.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 24, 2016
For want of glitzy decorations, flowers adorn communal areas and hymns are caroled with great gusto.
From Time ● Dec. 25, 2013
Mock-boozily he caroled: Who says that his missus just gave him the air, And left with the kids and the car?
From Time Magazine Archive
And then, from the tall pines and birches that ringed the pond, a wood thrush caroled.
From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit
He’s made personal appearances at Atlanta Braves games and carolled with the Falcons.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 19, 2019
After a prima donna had carolled the National Anthem, John F. Hylan, Mayor of New York, gave the "Caseys" the freedom of the City in one of his famed welcome-speeches.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was a beautiful morning in August: the larks carolled in the air, and the robins shrilled in the brakes.
From Black Forest Village Stories by Berthold Auerbach
And they remained standing amid the press of people; troops came jogging on; socialistic songs of triumph carolled up coarsely....
From Majesty A Novel by Louis Couperus
The roses were blowing, like whales in the sea Where the apple-bloom icebergs plunged fearless and free, And the larks carolled madly their high jubilee In the ether.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, December 3, 1887 by Various
At the previous luncheon, Rice had pledged to send GEO employees Christmas caroling across town; he even gave Mayor LaDawn Edwards $300.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2025
Instead of caroling and ringing church bells, the most prominent sounds on Christmastide were now town criers calling: "No Christmas! No Christmas!"
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
This year, preregistration for the two caroling events filled up within hours of going online.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 24, 2023
Christmas means different traditions for those who celebrate, whether it's white elephant gifts, seeing holiday lights, volunteering, caroling with good company or partaking in various foods.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2022
I could hear that she was happy and sad, even with my sisters yelping and Johnny Mathis caroling.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
No carolling, no parties and even Germany's much loved glühwein stalls will close, as drinking outdoors is banned.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2020
In another part of that film—inspired by Holofcener’s crying jag at the mental hospital where she went carolling with her mother—Keener’s character looks into volunteering at a program for kids with Down syndrome.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 30, 2018
How is the Ghost of Christmas Past able to change Scrooge’s mind—to make him feel affection and pity for the carolling urchin?
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 24, 2015
Which poet is carolling a “Song on May Morning”?
From The Guardian ● May 21, 2012
“I have heard her carolling like a bird.”
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
