carton
Americannoun
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a cardboard or plastic box used typically for storage or shipping.
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the amount a carton can hold.
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the contents of a carton.
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a cardboardlike substance consisting of chewed plant material often mixed with soil, made by certain insects for building nests.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a cardboard box for containing goods
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a container of waxed paper or plastic in which liquids, such as milk, are sold
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shooting
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a white disc at the centre of a target
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a shot that hits this disc
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verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of carton
1780–90; < French < Italian cartone pasteboard; see cartoon
Explanation
A carton is a cardboard box or package. A pint of cream often comes in a carton. There are many different kinds of cartons, but most of them are packaging for some kind of consumer product, particularly food. There are egg cartons, milk cartons, and cigarette cartons, all of which are different shapes and made out of slightly different types of paperboard or lightweight cardboard. Carton has its root in the Medieval Latin word carta, "paper."
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.
But according to the CPI, the average price of a carton of large Grade A eggs has fallen 48%.
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026
The list price rose 5% to $4,193 for a carton, or one month’s supply.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
In updated guidelines for the Truth in Recycling law, recycling rates for carton material have fallen below the state threshold.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
With reasonably priced additions like fresh onion and panko crumbs, Syd’s Hamburger Helper effort doesn’t taste like it came out of a carton.
From Salon • Oct. 25, 2025
In the carton kept at room temperature, the two strains had acquired the opposite ratio.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
