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definitions

carpet

[kahr-pit]
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noun

verb (used with object)

to cover or furnish with or as with a carpet.
Chiefly British. to reprimand.

Idioms

    on the carpet,
    1. before an authority or superior for an accounting of one's actions or a reprimand: He was called on the carpet again for his carelessness.
    2. Chiefly British.under consideration or discussion.

Origin of carpet

1300–50; Middle English carpete cloth covering for a table, floor, bed, etc. < Middle French carpite or Medieval Latin carpīta < Italian carpita woolen bedspread < Vulgar Latin *carpīta, past participle of carpīre, for Latin carpere to pluck, card (wool)
Related formscar·pet·less, adjectivecar·pet·like, adjectivere·car·pet, verb (used with object)un·car·pet·ed, adjectivewell-car·pet·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for on the carpet

carpet

noun

  1. a heavy fabric for covering floors
  2. (as modifier)a carpet sale
a covering like a carpeta carpet of leaves
on the carpet informal
  1. before authority to be reproved for misconduct or error
  2. under consideration

verb -pets, -peting or -peted (tr)

to cover with or as if with a carpet
informal to reprimand

Word Origin for carpet

C14: from Old French carpite, from Old Italian carpita, from Late Latin carpeta, literally: (wool) that has been carded, from Latin carpere to pluck, card
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for on the carpet

carpet

v.

"to cover with a carpet," 1620s, from carpet (n.). Meaning "call to reprimand" is from 1840. Related: Carpeted; carpeting.

carpet

n.

late 13c., "coarse cloth;" mid-14c., "tablecloth, bedspread;" from Old French carpite "heavy decorated cloth, carpet," from Medieval Latin or Old Italian carpita "thick woolen cloth," probably from Latin carpere "to card, pluck," probably so called because it was made from unraveled, shreded, "plucked" fabric; from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (see harvest (n.)). Meaning shifted 15c. to floor coverings.

From 16c.-19c. as an adjective often with a tinge of contempt, when used of men (e.g. carpet-knight, 1570s) by association with luxury, ladies' boudoirs, and drawing rooms. On the carpet "summoned for reprimand" is 1900, U.S. colloquial (but cf. carpet (v.) "call (someone) to be reprimanded," 1823, British servants' slang). To sweep or push something under the carpet in the figurative sense is first recorded 1953.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with on the carpet

on the carpet

see call on the carpet.

carpet

see call on the carpet; red carpet. Also see under rug.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.