a large freshwater cyprinid fish, Cyprinus carpio, native to Asia but widely introduced in tropical and temperate waters: an important food fish in many countries.
any of various other fishes of the family Cyprinidae.
a freshwater teleost food fish, Cyprinus carpio, having a body covered with cycloid scales, a naked head, one long dorsal fin, and two barbels on each side of the mouth: family Cyprinidae
any other fish of the family Cyprinidae; a cyprinid
What does -carp mean? The combining form -carp is used like a suffix to refer to fruit or a fruiting body. A fruiting body is an organ that produces spores, which develops into a part of a fruit. It is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology and botany. The combining form -carp ultimately comes from the Greek karpós, meaning “fruit.” The combining form -carpic is used to form adjectives of words ending in -carp. Equivalent to -carpic is -carpous, meaning “fruited.”Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -carpic and -carpous articles.
1200–50; Middle English carpen to speak, prate < Old Norse karpa to brag, wrangle
1350–1400; Middle English carpe < Middle French < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German karpe; cognate with Old High German karpfo
< New Latin -carpium < Greek -karpion, derivative of karpós fruit
A carp is a type of fish found in fresh water. To carp is to complain and gripe repeatedly, especially about little things. Don’t carp about the rain if you live in the rain forest. A carp is a freshwater fish belonging to the Cyprinidae family, which is native to Europe and Asia. To carp, on the other hand, is universal. To carp is to complain and whine in a particularly annoying way. Someone who always complains about the same things over and over loves to carp. Carping is a little like nagging: no one wants to listen to it. People who carp find fault with almost everything.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Roughly a dozen people at the if-you-know-you-know event grooved and shuffled to EDM music while kayak enthusiasts paddled by and locals fished for carp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The agency has been working with staff at Milton Country Park, near Cambridge, to develop one of its ponds into a haven for crucian carp, a protected native species in the UK.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
Asian carp originated in China and Russia and were brought to the U.S. in the 1970s to control algae blooms in ponds and wastewater treatment plants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
On one outing near Carter’s home in central Illinois, a flying carp knocked his friend out cold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
And they ate the flesh of the carp.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
“So, let the critics carp. We will survive stronger and better positioned to profit globally. We are bullish on this merger.”
From Washington Post ● May 13, 2016
“You know, this land belonged to the fish before it belonged to us. I have no doubt about the prophecy of the golden carp. He will come to rule again!”
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
“No,” I answered, “I do not fish for carp. It is bad luck.”
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
“The fish! Koi. Japanese carp. They look like giant goldfish.”
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Prof. Professor. c., cent. century. mech. mechanics. pron. pronoun; carp. carpentry. med. medicine. pronounced; cf. compare. metaph. metaphysics. pronunciation. chem. chemistry. mil. military. prop. properly. cog. cognate.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
To her critics, Breed closed with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt prizing the person who strives in spite of setbacks rather than the naysayer who carps from the sidelines.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
Outside-world triggers for Inger are multifarious — she refuses to bathe and often carps about walking — but none prove as potent as Andreas’s scorn, which sets hurdles throughout the trip.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
He carps constantly about what he sees as unfair coverage by the news media.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 22, 2018
But I also feel like a nag who carps on a million little things.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2016
Catfish must be the smartest fish there is, it’s like them and carps were the only fish that added rocks and horseflies together and came up with something bad.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Senior executives carped about Chapek to Disney board members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026
And after violating a gag order 10 times, he carped carefully, particularly after Merchan threatened jail time.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
“You’re no fun anymore,” carped a college buddy I’d once partied with.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2023
"I was told I'd have the exclusive," carped Dua Lipa.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2022
But Lord Grey’s Government is already carped at, and not without apparent reason.
From The Greville Memoirs A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, Vol. II by Reeve, Henry
After years of carping about it, I am pleased to find VW’s latest infotainment system now mentally competent and even fun to use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
In Werde’s view, Swift’s place atop the pop hierarchy makes such carping inevitable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
Believe me, I’m completely aware that I sound like a Scrooge, a buzzkill harping and carping about innocuous movies that are meant to be little more than background noise while people scroll on their phones.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024
After enough of his students’ carping, however, Hayes decided to put the snakes to the test.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
The carping had subsided, he wrote, but few of the carpers had as yet made the “amende honorable” that now clearly was due Chicago.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
