carrot

[kar-uh t]

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noun

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).

verb (used with object)

to treat (furs) with mercuric nitrate preparatory to felting.

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

Can be confusedcarat caret carrot karat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for carrot

motivation, stimulus, impetus, encouragement, reason, enticement, cream, carrot, dividend, fee, value, stock, trophy, jackpot, crown, championship, advantage, gold, title, bonus

Examples from the Web for carrot

Contemporary Examples of carrot

Assad has been offered safe passage to a third country as a carrot for handing over power.
U.S.: Assad’s ‘Machinery of Death’ Worst Since the Nazis
Josh Rogin
July 7, 2014
I had never craved a carrot before, or fantasized about raiding an apple tree in a nearby garden.
My Week At An Austrian Fat Camp
Owen Matthews
October 27, 2013
Study participants who were themselves overweight viewed stick—but not carrot—policies as threatening.
The Unintended Consequences of Company Wellness Penalties
Eliza Shapiro
July 6, 2013
He answered her in a voice that was flat and plain, like the voice that a carrot might have.
The Day I Met Charles Schulz
Daniel J. Levitin
February 12, 2013
Use that minute to peel the onion and carrot, and wash your celery.
The Gadget Chef: Reconstructed Chicken Soup
Megan McArdle
November 2, 2012

Historical Examples of carrot

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 Meditations
L. Lind-af-Hageby
Then, as Madame Francois turned her head away, he put the carrot to his mouth.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
After a while the boy got hungry and dug into his pocket for the carrot.
The Adventures of Maya the Bee
Waldemar Bonsels
Widely, eagerly, he opened his mouth, to close his teeth upon—a carrot.
Golden Moments
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for carrot

carrot

noun

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 for carrot

C16: from Old French carotte, from Late Latin carōta, from Greek karōton; perhaps related to Greek karē head

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for carrot

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.