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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
As an amateur, she was unable to accept around £407,000 in prize money in France after forgoing a £58,000 cheque at Carton House the previous week.
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025
Mr. Carton, 55, whose 2013 autobiography was titled “Loudmouth,” is best known for a high-wire broadcasting style that dances around sports and lingers on mischief, controversy and “locker-room talk.”
From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2024
In 1984 they would be among the first photographs to appear on milk cartons when the National Child Safety Council began its Missing Children Milk Carton Program.
From Salon • Oct. 21, 2023
Performed with close-harmony precision by L.A.’s Milk Carton Kids, this dead-on Simon & Garfunkel rip lays out the plight of kids who grow up sibling-less in New York with older parents.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2021
The Carton family never saw her cry, not even when her parents died, never heard a word of complaint from her.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
