carriage

[ kar-ij; kar-ee-ij ]

noun

1. a wheeled vehicle for conveying persons, as one drawn by horses and designed for comfort and elegance.

   Synonyms: wagon, car, cart

2. baby carriage.
3. British. a railway passenger coach.
4. a wheeled support, as for a cannon.
5. a movable part, as of a machine, designed for carrying something.
6. manner of carrying the head and body; bearing:

   the carriage of a soldier.

   Synonyms: air, demeanor, comportment, mien

7. Also called carriage piece, an inclined beam, as a string, supporting the steps of a stair.
8. the act of transporting; conveyance:

   the expenses of carriage.

9. the price or cost of transportation.
10. (in a typewriter) the moving part carrying the platen and its associated parts, usually set in motion to carry the paper across the point where the print element or type bars strike.
11. management; administration.

carriage

/ ˈkærɪdʒ /

noun

1. a railway coach for passengers
2. the manner in which a person holds and moves his head and body; bearing
3. a four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for persons
4. the moving part of a machine that bears another part

   a lathe carriage

   a typewriter carriage

5. ˈkærɪdʒˈkærɪɪdʒ
   1. the act of conveying; carrying
   2. the charge made for conveying (esp in the phrases carriage forward, when the charge is to be paid by the receiver, and carriage paid )

Word History and Origins

Origin of carriage¹

1150–1200; Middle English cariage < Anglo-French, Old North French, equivalent to cari ( er ) to carry + -age -age

Word History and Origins

Origin of carriage¹

C14: from Old Northern French cariage, from carier to carry

Example Sentences

The design was simplified too, with a narrower carriage that had holes on the rear edge, providing better stability as well as varying grip points.

From Los Angeles Times

Put them instead in a slow-trotting carriage and see how far they can go.

From Los Angeles Times

The disruption has the potential to cause near-term shortages in the US of items where China dominates the supply, such as baby carriages, colouring books and umbrellas, analysts at Macquarie noted this week.

From BBC

A great many investors backed the wrong horseless carriages around a century ago and lost their money.

From BBC

If the design is less ornate, Irvine noted that’s purposeful, pointing out antebellum carriage houses were “a little bit knocked down.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• freight

More About Carriage

What does carriage mean?

In parts of New England, the word carriage is commonly used to refer to a shopping cart. For example, someone in Massachusetts might say they will "grab a carriage" at the front of the grocery store. This might confuse people in other parts of the U.S., who tend to call it a "cart" or "shopping cart."