carrying-on

American  

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

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.

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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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Etymology

Origin of carrying-on

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

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

From Literature

‘I told you already what I’ll do if you don’t get rid of that fellow for good tonight. In the daytime he takes them naps at the back, and then at night you feed him dinners and beer. For a week now he hasn’t paid one cent. And all his wild talking and carrying-on will ruin any decent trade.’

From Literature

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.

From Salon

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

From Literature

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.

From Slate