carrying-on
Americannoun
plural
carryings-on-
irresponsible, irritating, self-indulgent, or overwrought behavior.
The baby-sitter was exhausted from the child's noisy carrying-on.
-
improper or immoral behavior.
noun
-
unconventional or questionable behaviour
-
excited or flirtatious behaviour, esp when regarded as foolish
Etymology
Origin of carrying-on
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
We are within shelling distance, but the people in the farm have been living in the farm, carrying-on their ordinary work, without the young men right through everything, and the farm is absolutely undamaged.
From Letters from France by Mack, Isaac Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
