carrot
Americannoun
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carrots
plural
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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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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Explanation
A carrot is a long, orange root vegetable. Carrots can be planted as tiny seeds and grown in a backyard garden. Carrots are a popular vegetable to eat raw on their own, or chopped and tossed in a salad. You can also cook carrots, or grate them and make a carrot cake. You might also use the word carrot to mean an implied reward, especially in the phrase "carrot and stick," which comes from the idea of enticing a donkey or mule forward with a carrot, or punishing it for not moving by hitting it with a stick.
Vocabulary lists containing carrot
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:
I tell Hanan my son usually eats them with raw carrot sticks and pasta.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
This tenderized duck is served with bulgar wheat and carrot ragu, sweetcorn purée and orange jus.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
USA Today published a photo earlier this year of a sailor’s mostly empty lunch tray, which included a few chunks of boiled carrot and processed meat of an indeterminate nature.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
He has neither a carrot nor a stick to influence matters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Together Mr. Jeet and Laney worked on “COME,” rewarding Paganini with one small piece of carrot every time he successfully completed the command.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
So as I slide four chicken nuggets on to my son's dinner plate - alongside his carrots and pasta - I'm not feeling the usual shame and panic.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Chief among the carrots is the promise of seemingly irresistible returns.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Jonathan Pidluzny, the Education Department’s deputy chief of staff, doesn’t ignore the sticks but emphasizes carrots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Even when the tomatoes are gone and the bread stall is picked clean, you can usually find some jar of something sharp, spicy and brined: giardiniera, hot peppers, spicy dills, pickled carrots.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Yuki scurried underfoot, hoping for dropped pieces of carrots from the salad.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
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.
