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carry

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "carry", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "carry" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "carry" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

carry is aEnglishverb. It means: To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting. Pronounced /ˈkæɹ.ɪ/. It ranks #1,360 in English word frequency. Often confused with cry and cay.

Key facts for carry
PropertyValue
Headwordcarry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈkæɹ.ɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,360
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of carry in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for carry is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæɹ.ɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,360 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 30 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for carry, with forms such as "acrry", "carryy", and "caryr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cry", "cay", "cars", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English carien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is carry, spelled C-A-R-R-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
  2. 2
    To notionally transfer from one place (such as a country, book, or column) to another.
  3. 3
    To convey by extension or continuance; to extend.
  4. 4
    To move; to convey using force
  5. 5
    To lead or guide.
  6. 6
    To stock or supply (something); to have in store.
  7. 7
    To adopt (something); take (something) over.
  8. 8
    To adopt or resolve on, especially in a deliberative assembly
  9. 9
    In an addition, to transfer the quantity in excess of what is countable in the units in a column to the column immediately to the left in order to be added there.
  10. 10
    To have, hold, possess or maintain (something).
  11. 11
    To be transmitted; to travel.
  12. 12
    To insult, to diss.
  13. 13
    To capture a ship by coming alongside and boarding.
  14. 14
    To transport (the ball) whilst maintaining possession.
  15. 15
    For the ball, having been hit in the air, to reach a fielder without touching the ground (whether or not the fielder catches it).
  16. 16
    To have on one’s person.
  17. 17
    To be pregnant (with).
  18. 18
    To have propulsive power; to propel.
  19. 19
    To hold the head; said of a horse.
  20. 20
    To have earth or frost stick to the feet when running, as a hare.
  21. 21
    To bear or uphold successfully, especially through conflict, for example a leader or principle
  22. 22
    To succeed in (e.g. a contest); to succeed in; to win.
  23. 23
    To get possession of by force; to capture.
  24. 24
    To contain; to comprise; have a particular aspect; to show or exhibit
  25. 25
    To bear (oneself); to behave or conduct.
  26. 26
    To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another.
  27. 27
    To have a weapon on one's person; to be armed.
  28. 28
    (transitive or, rarely, intransitive) To be disproportionately responsible for a team's success or for counteracting teammates' underperformance.
  29. 29
    To physically transport (in the general sense, not necessarily by lifting)
  30. 30
    To bear a firearm, such as a gun.

Etymology

From Middle English carien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acrry,carryy,caryr,ccarry,crary

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for carry

Misspelling Variants of "carry"

acrry5carryy6caryr5ccarry6crary5
Misspelling Variants of "carry"

Frequency rank: #1,360 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "carry"?
"carry" is spelled C-A-R-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkæɹ.ɪ/.
What does "carry" mean?
As a verb, "carry" means: To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
What words are commonly confused with "carry"?
"carry" is commonly confused with "cry", "cay", "cars". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "carry"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "carry" is /ˈkæɹ.ɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "carry"?
From Middle English carien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.