carrot
Americannoun
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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.
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the nutritious, orange to yellow root of this plant, eaten raw or cooked.
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something hoped for or promised as a lure or incentive.
To boost productivity, leaders hinted at the carrot of subsidized housing for the workers.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an umbelliferous plant, Daucus carota sativa, with finely divided leaves and flat clusters of small white flowers See also wild carrot
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the long tapering orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
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something offered as a lure or incentive
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reward and punishment as methods of persuasion
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Etymology
Origin of carrot
1525–35; < Middle French carotte < Late Latin carōta < Greek karōtón, derivative of kárē head, with suffix as in kephalōtón onion, derivative of kephalḗ head
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.
A mix of carrot, stick and then acting something like an irritated parent.
From BBC
“I typically just use cream and let that reduce with the clam stock I make, which has carrots, celery and leeks.”
From Salon
Henk de Haan, 63, throws onions and carrots into a pan -- essential ingredients in snert, a thick soup made with winter vegetables and pork, typically finished off with slices of Dutch smoked sausage.
From Barron's
You are not constitutionally incapable of washing a carrot.
From Salon
"And it doesn't seem like they understand that they do need carrots."
From BBC
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.
