Definition of: carry

(kar′ē) v. ·ried, ·ry·ing v.t.
1. To bear from one place to another; transport; convey.
2. To have or bear upon or about one's person or in one's mind.
3. To serve as a means of conveyance or transportation: The wind carries sounds.
4. To lead; urge; move; influence: Love for art carried him abroad.
5. To win; capture.
6. To bear up; sustain; hold in position: The ship carries sail well.
7. To conduct (oneself) or demean (oneself); behave.
8. To transfer, as a number or figure, to another column, or, as in bookkeeping, from one account book to another.
9. To have or keep on hand: We carry a full stock.
10. To win, as an election; win the support of.
11. To be pregnant with.
12. To bear, as crops, or sustain, as cattle.
13. To give support to, as evidence; corroborate; confirm.
14. To extend; continue: He carries this farce too far.
15. In golf, to cover or pass, as a distance or object, in one stroke.
16. In hunting, to follow or trail by scent.
17. U.S. Dial. To conduct; escort.
—v.i.
18. To act as bearer or carrier: fetch and carry.
19. To have or exert impelling or propelling power: The rifle carries nearly a mile.
20. To hold the head and neck habitually in a given manner: The horse carries well.
21. In falconry, to fly off with the game.
—to carry all before one To meet with unimpeded and uniform success.
—to carry arms
1. To belong to the army.
2. To bear weapons.
3. To hold a weapon in a prescribed position against the shoulder.
—to carry away
1. To move the feelings greatly; enchant, as with passion or rapture.
2. To break off, as from a ship; lose by breaking off in a collision or gale.
—to carry forward
1. To progress or proceed with.
2. In book-keeping, to transfer, as an item, to the next column or page.
—to carry off
1. To cause to die.
2. To win, as a prize or honor.
3. To face consequences boldly; brazen out.
4. To abduct.
—to carry on
1. To keep up; keep going; continue.
2. To behave in a free, frolicsome manner.
3. To perpetuate; continue, as a tradition.
—to carry out To accomplish; bring to completion.
—to carry over
1. In bookkeeping, to repeat, as an item, on another page or in another column.
2. To influence to join the opposed party.
—to carry through
1. To carry to completion or success.
2. To sustain or support to the end.
—noun plural ·ries
1. A portage, as between navigable streams; also, the act of carrying, as a canoe, luggage, etc.
2. The range of a gun or a projectile; also, the distance covered by a projectile, as a golf ball.
3. Mil. The position of carry arms, or carry swords, etc. [<AF carier <LL carricare L carrus cart. Doublet of CHARGE.] Synonyms (verb): bear, bring, convey, lift, move, remove, sustain, take, transmit, transport. A person may bear a load when either in motion or at rest; he carries it only when in motion. The stooping Atlas bears the world on his shoulders; swiftly moving Time carries the hourglass and scythe; a person may be said either to bear or to carry a scar, since it is upon him whether in motion or at rest. If an object is to be moved from the place we occupy, we say carry; if to the place we occupy, we say bring. A messenger carries a letter to a correspondent, and brings an answer. Take is often used in this sense in place of carry; as, take that letter to the office. Carry often signifies to transport by personal strength, without reference to the direction; as, that is more than he can carry; yet even so, it would not be admissible to say carry it to me, or carry it here; in such case we must say bring. To lift is simply to raise an object from its support, if only for an instant, with no reference to holding or moving; one may be able to lift what he cannot carry. The figurative uses of carry are very numerous; as, to carry an election, carry the country, carry (in the sense of capture) a fort, carry an audience, carry a stock of goods, etc. Compare CONVEY, KEEP, SUPPORT. Antonym: drop.