carrot
Americannoun
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a plant, Daucus carota, of the parsley family, having pinnately decompound leaves and umbels of small white or yellow flowers, in its wild form a widespread, familiar weed, and in cultivation valued for its edible root.
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the nutritious, orange to yellow root of this plant, eaten raw or cooked.
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something hoped for or promised as a lure or incentive.
To boost productivity, leaders hinted at the carrot of subsidized housing for the workers.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an umbelliferous plant, Daucus carota sativa, with finely divided leaves and flat clusters of small white flowers See also wild carrot
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the long tapering orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
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something offered as a lure or incentive
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reward and punishment as methods of persuasion
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Etymology
Origin of carrot
1525–35; < Middle French carotte < Late Latin carōta < Greek karōtón, derivative of kárē head, with suffix as in kephalōtón onion, derivative of kephalḗ head
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.
“And Jonah believes everything he says. And he’ll do anything he says, especially when Dad dangles the dirt bike carrot. It buys Jonah’s loyalty every time. It’s like he’s Dad’s puppet.”
From Literature
“A lot of what we grow are beautiful watermelons, or carrots or tomatoes, and depending on what the price is, people may or may not buy it,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
At Sainsbury's the range is similarly extensive with orange marmalade, salted caramel, carrot, cherry, rhubarb, ginger and cinnamon.
From BBC
He also pointed out the U.S. proposal has less onerous demands and more generous carrots than pre-war positions.
From MarketWatch
“I’d much prefer the carrot, but I’m not afraid of the stick,” he said.
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.
