carrying-on

American  

[kar-ee-ing-on, -awn] / ˈkær i ɪŋˈɒn, -ˈɔn /

noun

Informal.

carryings-on plural

1. irresponsible, irritating, self-indulgent, or overwrought behavior.

   The baby-sitter was exhausted from the child's noisy carrying-on.

2. improper or immoral behavior.

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carrying-on British  

noun

1. unconventional or questionable behaviour

2. excited or flirtatious behaviour, esp when regarded as foolish

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• carryings-on
  plural

Etymology

Origin of carrying-on

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carrying-on carryings-on

It was less of an axiom than an ethos for a carrying-on, proud people:

From Washington Post ● Feb. 23, 2014

Ms. Murphy juxtaposes the comedy, the heartache and the carrying-on with a deft hand, so that sentimentality is kept at bay.

From New York Times ● Jan. 8, 2010

Well, there couldn’t have been any carrying-on down at the store or we’d have heard about it long time ago.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

“That’s what she’s struggling with. The carrying-on part. Is she there?”

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

What's this carrying-on between thee and Will Price?

From Anna of the Five Towns by Bennett, Arnold

Most of the lame comedic scenes in the opera involve Strauss’s attempts to depict the baron’s absurd carryings-on.

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2019

At times such carryings-on have been known to get out of hand.

From Time Magazine Archive

So catholic a taste in carryings-on suggests the author's father, Evelyn Waugh.

From Time Magazine Archive

Friends report no apparent danger that either is about to indulge in celebrity carryings-on.

From Time Magazine Archive

Once she was complaining about the carryings-on at the jook and Tea Cake snapped, “Aw, don’t make God look so foolish—findin’ fault wid everything He made.”

From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston