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:
He said he saw the cart come into the hub where others were waiting in line and could see the restraint was unlatched.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
In Bang Kapi locals used ice-boxes and other floating plastic containers to cart supplies from nearby markets and supermarkets, AFP reporters saw.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
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
But repeated prompts led the bot to rank products in a shopping cart based on the reliability of such labels, with Sparky calling its earlier rebuff “overly cautious.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
It hadn’t snowed yet so we had been running with a three-wheel cart, which meant we had to run on logging roads and open areas.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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
“At a minimum could be used to leapfrog golf carts in the Villages.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
A woman with two shopping carts told me she’s been homeless for 5½ years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Now the constant rumble of construction machinery has been replaced by a steady stream of vans and golf carts ferrying people to and from the paddock for this weekend's races.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
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
On the lowland beside the road, there were other stores, garages, vendors’ carts, and umbrella-covered kiosks.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
I tracked down two New Jersey record stores whose sites said they’d purchase all types of albums, so we carted ours to them.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The ailing quarterbacks include the reigning Super Bowl champion, the Seattle Seahawks’ Sam Darnold, and Caleb Williams, who was carted off a week after leading the Chicago Bears to a 59-point explosion in their opener.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Washington lost Jayden Daniels to an elbow injury, and Chicago’s Caleb Williams was carted off the field in tears, although that hamstring injury apparently wound up less serious than originally feared.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 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
Even the survey stakes were gone, uprooted and carted off with the trash.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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
It’s one of the costliest actions we take in managing our landscapes — in terms of dollars and environmental damage — and yet we keep cutting down and carting away the remains of trees.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024
Many of the alleged crimes targeted demolition companies and the carting industry - also known as waste management or rubbish collection.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2023
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
