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carrying-on

[kar-ee-ing-on, -awn]
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noun, plural car·ry·ings-on. Informal.
  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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Origin of carrying-on

First recorded in 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

performanceirrationalitysillinesscrazinesslunacybunkfollyinsanitystupidityrubbishindiscretionabsurdityirresponsibilitytantrumfussfitupsetcommotionto-doconfrontation

Examples from the Web for carrying-on

Historical Examples

  • What's all this we hear about your carrying-on this morning?

    Air Service Boys Flying for Victory

    Charles Amory Beach

  • There was a newly-married couple in our car, and of course lots of us were more or less interested in their carrying-on.

    Atchoo!

    George Niblo

  • They always seem to be happy, singing and “carrying-on” with the utmost abandon.

    The Spell of Flanders

    Edward Neville Vose

  • When she got going, laughing and carrying-on, what wouldn't she say, right out before anybody!

    The Brimming Cup

    Dorothy Canfield Fisher

British Dictionary definitions for carrying-on

carrying-on

noun plural carryings-on informal
  1. unconventional or questionable behaviour
  2. excited or flirtatious behaviour, esp when regarded as foolish
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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