cart
noun
a heavy two-wheeled vehicle, commonly without springs, drawn by mules, oxen, or the like, used for the conveyance of heavy goods.
cart
American
[kahrt]
/ kɑrt /
noun
-
carts
plural
-
a heavy two-wheeled vehicle, commonly without springs, drawn by mules, oxen, or the like, used for the conveyance of heavy goods.
-
a light two-wheeled vehicle with springs, drawn by a horse or pony.
-
any small vehicle pushed or pulled by hand.
-
Obsolete. a chariot.
verb (used with object)
-
carts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carted,
past participle, past
-
carting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
carts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
carted,
past participle, past
-
carting
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
-
put the cart before the horse, to do or place things in improper order; be illogical.
-
on the water cart, wagon.
cart
1
British
/ kɑːt /
noun
-
a heavy open vehicle, usually having two wheels and drawn by horses, used in farming and to transport goods
-
a light open horse-drawn vehicle having two wheels and springs, for business or pleasure
-
any small vehicle drawn or pushed by hand, such as a trolley
-
to reverse the usual or natural order of things
verb
-
(usually tr) to use or draw a cart to convey (goods, etc)
to cart groceries
-
(tr) to carry with effort; haul
to cart wood home
CART
2
British
abbreviation
cart
3
British
/ kɑːt /
noun
cart
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cartsimple
-
cartssimple
-
have cartedperfect
-
has cartedperfect
-
am cartingprogressive
-
are cartingprogressive
-
is cartingprogressive
-
have been cartingperfect progressive
-
has been cartingperfect progressive
Past
-
cartedsimple
-
had cartedperfect
-
was cartingprogressive
-
were cartingprogressive
-
had been cartingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cart
before 900; Middle English cart ( e ), Old English cræt (by metathesis); cognate with Old Norse kartr cart
Explanation
A cart is a vehicle with wheels that's pulled by an animal, a person, or by another vehicle. You could attach a cart to your dog and teach him to pull it around. The typical cart is hooked up to a draft horse or another farm animal. Other kinds of carts include hand carts, which can be stacked with heavy items and easily pushed or pulled by people; and golf carts, which are open vehicles that are powered by electricity or gasoline. When you cart something around, you lug it or transport it. The word cart comes from a Scandinavian source, probably the Old Norse kartr.
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.
See Examples For:
Implied is the question of whether the country of 400,000 inhabitants ultimately thinks it best to remain the captain of its own ship, or hitch its cart to the EU.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Launched as a coffee cart in Brooklyn in 2020 by former tech entrepreneurs Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha, the venture capital-backed cafe chain has since grown to nearly 100 locations around the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
In one, apparently written during or after an overseas golfing trip, Harp apologizes for having sprinted after the president for lack of a golf cart.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
Which makes the moment when we still have to ask ourselves what sounds good feel increasingly precious: a little unoptimized space before something has been recommended, queued or dropped into a cart for us.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
“We were going to get married!” she told her parents—it was the truth!—but the cart had already preceded the horse, the milk had been drunk without the cow’s purchase, et cetera, et cetera.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
During his ownership of the property, the racing legend has enjoyed an impressive career across an array of auto arenas, including Nascar, IndyCar, CART, and the Dakar Rally.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025
Goldman Sachs and J.P.Morgan are the lead underwriters for the offering, Instacart said, adding that its shares would be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol "CART."
From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2023
But the F1 sanctioning fees were exorbitant and promoters rebranded the race for CART, which was the U.S.-based open-wheel series at the time.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2022
In bringing the series to Las Vegas, Bernard hoped to jolt the series back to life after more than decade of lagging crowds and ratings spawned by the series’ bitter 1996 split with CART.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2011
Another time I give her CART, and then chalked the same upon the cart.
From Dickens As an Educator by James L. (James Laughlin) Hughes
Since then, Instacart was revealed to have allowed retailers to use its software to vary prices for individuals across four cities who added the same items simultaneously to their shopping carts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
She remembers when the blocks up to Tin Hau Temple brimmed with food carts, trinkets, and the occasional fortune-teller.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Where Mona believed any outfit could benefit from a splash of animal print and kitten heels, I found fashion inspiration from behind the wheels of oversize red shopping carts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
In 2013, New York hooked up some Manhattan street carts to the city's power grid -- it cut emissions and noise but there was no way to scale up.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
When they reached Jerusalem, after passing the usual daily things—vegetable carts, sheep, stores, family vineyards propped on poles—the taxi turned sharply onto a gray industrial-looking street.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
After the early loss of Phil Salt, Brook carted Prince Yadav for two consecutive mighty leg-side sixes and followed with a trademark lofted cover drive into the stands off Axar.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Paramedics meanwhile carted away a young woman suffering from apparent heat exhaustion.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
After going down on a first-quarter pass attempt, Jones slammed his helmet into the grass before being carted off the field.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
He has been carted off by security at a Paris Olympics track and field event and more than once ran onto soccer pitches during high-profile matches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
But when a delivery service is carting cash around town instead of a lukewarm burrito, the stakes and security concerns, obviously, are higher.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 14, 2025
She compares carting the demo reel around Hollywood to “what the Avon lady goes through.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
It’s one of the costliest actions we take in managing our landscapes — in terms of dollars and environmental damage — and yet we keep cutting down and carting away the remains of trees.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024
Many of the alleged crimes targeted demolition companies and the carting industry - also known as waste management or rubbish collection.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2023
He’s marching up the tracks carting another two buckets.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
