carrying-on

[kar-ee-ing-on, -awn]

noun

Informal.

plural

carryings-on 

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.

carrying-on

noun

1. unconventional or questionable behaviour

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of carrying-on¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Sicilian cooks produced the first known proto-cookbooks with roots in a letter-writing tradition where correspondents chronicled the fare on offer and the carrying-on at great feasts for absent friends.

Read more on Salon

Comparisons are also drawn to the dot-com and housing bubbles, as well as England’s South Sea Bubble of 1720, when secretive shares—“for carrying-on an undertaking of great advantage but no-one to know what it is”— skyrocketed.

Read more on Slate

If true, it could be noted that at age 62, he was a bit long in the tooth for that sort of carrying-on.

Read more on New York Times

In either case, it appears that Clemens saw the opportunities for extracurricular carrying-on as a perk of the job.

Read more on Washington Times

“Jack Nicklaus, that eagle here in 1986 – and Tiger chipping in at 16 – my heavens, you never saw such jumping around, such carrying-on,” Mrs. Pennel said.

Read more on Golf Digest