carrot
- a plant, Daucus carota, of the parsley family, having pinnately decompound leaves and umbels of small white or yellow flowers, in its wild form a widespread, familiar weed, and in cultivation valued for its edible root.
- the nutritious, orange to yellow root of this plant, eaten raw or cooked.
- something hoped for or promised as a lure or incentive: To boost productivity, leaders hinted at the carrot of subsidized housing for the workers.Compare stick1(def 8).
- to treat (furs) with mercuric nitrate preparatory to felting.
Origin of carrot
Related Words
motivationstimulusimpetusencouragementreasonenticementcreamcarrotdividendfeevaluestocktrophyjackpotcrownchampionshipadvantagegoldtitlebonusExamples from the Web for carrot
Contemporary Examples
Assad has been offered safe passage to a third country as a carrot for handing over power.
I had never craved a carrot before, or fantasized about raiding an apple tree in a nearby garden.
Study participants who were themselves overweight viewed stick—but not carrot—policies as threatening.
He answered her in a voice that was flat and plain, like the voice that a carrot might have.
Use that minute to peel the onion and carrot, and wash your celery.
Historical Examples
Chop up a stick of celery, a sprig of parsley, a carrot, an onion.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:Mrs. W. G. Waters
Our agriculture is precarious, and 27 every carrot is bought by the sweat of our brow.
Mountain MeditationsL. Lind-af-Hageby
Then, as Madame Francois turned her head away, he put the carrot to his mouth.
The Fat and the ThinEmile Zola
After a while the boy got hungry and dug into his pocket for the carrot.
The Adventures of Maya the BeeWaldemar Bonsels
Widely, eagerly, he opened his mouth, to close his teeth upon—a carrot.
Golden MomentsAnonymous
carrot
- an umbelliferous plant, Daucus carota sativa, with finely divided leaves and flat clusters of small white flowersSee also wild carrot
- the long tapering orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
- something offered as a lure or incentive
- carrot and stickreward and punishment as methods of persuasion
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for carrot
n.
1530s, from Middle French carrotte, from Latin carota, from Greek karoton "carrot," probably from PIE *kre-, from root *ker- "horn, head" (see horn (n.)); so called for its horn-like shape.
Originally white-rooted and a medicinal plant to the ancients, who used it as an aphrodisiac and to prevent poisoning. Not entirely distinguished from parsnips in ancient times. Reintroduced in Europe by Arabs c.1100. The orange carrot, which existed perhaps as early as 6c., probably began as a mutation of the Asian purple carrot and was cultivated into the modern edible plant 16c.-17c. in the Netherlands. Thus the word is used as a color name but not before 1670s in English, originally of red hair.