carpenter
noun
a person who builds or repairs wooden structures, as houses, scaffolds, or shelving.
carpenter
1 American
[kahr-puhn-ter]
/ ˈkɑr pən tər /
noun
-
carpenters
plural
verb (used without object)
-
carpenters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carpentered,
past participle, past
-
carpentering
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
carpenters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carpentered,
past participle, past
-
carpentering
present participle
-
to make by carpentry.
-
to construct (a plot, scene, article, or the like) in a mechanical or unoriginal fashion.
Carpenter
2
American
[kahr-puhn-ter]
/ ˈkɑr pən tər /
noun
-
John Alden, 1876–1951, U.S. composer.
-
(Malcolm) Scott, 1925–2013, U.S. astronaut and oceanographer.
carpenter
1
British
/ ˈkɑːpɪntə /
noun
verb
-
(intr) to do the work of a carpenter
-
(tr) to make or fit together by or as if by carpentry
Carpenter
2
British
/ ˈkɑːpɪntə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
carpentersimple
-
carpenterssimple
-
have carpenteredperfect
-
has carpenteredperfect
-
am carpenteringprogressive
-
are carpenteringprogressive
-
is carpenteringprogressive
-
have been carpenteringperfect progressive
-
has been carpenteringperfect progressive
Past
-
carpenteredsimple
-
had carpenteredperfect
-
was carpenteringprogressive
-
were carpenteringprogressive
-
had been carpenteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of carpenter
1275–1325; Middle English < Anglo-French < Late Latin carpentārius wainwright, equivalent to Latin carpent ( um ) two-wheeled carriage (< Celtic; compare Old Irish carpad chariot) + -ārius -ary; see -er 2
Explanation
A carpenter is a person who makes things out of wood. You could hire a carpenter to build you a dining room table and two long benches. Carpenters specialize in woodworking, making furniture and buildings from wood and repairing various wooden things. If you wanted beautiful handmade wooden cabinets in your kitchen, you'd hire a carpenter. The word has been around since the 14th century, but it's been a common last name for even longer. It comes from the Late Latin carpentarius, "wagon maker," with its root word carpentum, "wagon."
Vocabulary lists containing carpenter
Name That Job: Occupational Last Names
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"The Sword in the Stone" and "Was There a Real King Arthur?"
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"Core Curriculum: Introductory Craft Skills," Vocabulary from Module Three
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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:
Master carpenter Joseph W., who did not want to give his last name, declined to speak about endorsements, focusing instead on the challenges of workers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
"We've been here since day one, digging holes all the way down to the ground floor," the 50-year-old carpenter told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
An Irish carpenter acquired the isle in Florida’s Lake Marion in the 1880s and built the main house by hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
"We live practically like fireflies here -- in the dark all the time. You never know when you'll have power; it's our sad reality," Julian Gonzalez, a 72-year-old carpenter, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Daddy would point out the moths, carpenter ants, and roly-poly bugs beneath the bark of dead logs.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
That’s why diesel shows up in producer prices before consumer prices, Carpenter said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
While accepting the award for "Best Collaboration" after their performance, Madonna and Carpenter joked about how the material girl direct messaged via social media to get them into the studio for the collaboration.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
This year’s Coachella, headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G, drew the most concurrent viewers in the history of Coachella on YouTube, according to the company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Mr. Cregger is a successor to Mr. Carpenter also, but with more comedic finesse and more cleverness, plus a facility for sinuous plotting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
When Mrs. Carpenter came over, I asked her how long I would be in the hospital, and she smiled and said Dr. Snydman would have to decide that.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
Various federal and state organizations representing carpenters support the measure, including the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
"We have mechanics, we have carpenters, we have real good problem solvers," Leverkus said.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
She believes that because they're only automating the structure of the building, the business model isn't threatening to carpenters.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
The construction and installation of offshore wind turbines requires the expertise of skilled electrical workers, pipe fitters, welders, pile drivers, iron workers, machinists and carpenters.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
He placed newspaper advertisements for carpenters and laborers, and soon workers with teams of horses began excavating the land.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Mines, of course, are highly constructed, carpentered environments—exactly the kind of environment that should produce a large illusion, according to the theory.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2025
For Christmas, he’d given her a table he had carpentered himself, and Karen was going to insist on returning it.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2019
Two farmers down the street asked to get married there last fall; guests ate at tables Sarver carpentered and danced late into the night beneath the barn’s vaulted ceiling and wooden beams.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 25, 2016
It’s open at the bottom, and I saw several people direct puzzled glances at its roughly carpentered interior.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 15, 2015
Rough stairs carpentered out of two by tens leading down into the darkness.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
He was a dab hand at carpentering, doctoring, shipbuilding and grape growing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
His upper body is hefty, his hands coarse from years of carpentering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2020
One of seven children of a Madison, Wis. policeman, Krug worked his way through the University of Wisconsin by toting ice and baggage, carpentering and working in a filling station.
From Time Magazine Archive
In their spare time they studied engineering and carpentering.
From Time Magazine Archive
Here, in the evenings, they studied blacksmithing, carpentering, and other necessary arts from books which they had brought out of the farmhouse.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
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