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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

cart.

A small, open, wheeled vehicle, drawn or pushed by a person or animal, often with two wheels on one axle, more often used for transporting goods than passengers.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kɑːt/Received-Pronunciation/kɑɹt/General-American
  1. A small, open, wheeled vehicle, drawn or pushed by a person or animal, often with two wheels on one axle, more often used for transporting goods than passengers.

    The grocer delivered his goods by cart.
  2. A small motor vehicle resembling a car; a go-cart.

  3. A shopping cart.

    Internet
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Old Norse kartrbor. Proto-Germanic *kradô Proto-West Germanic *krat Old English crætder. Middle English cart English cart From Middle English cart, kart, from Old Norse kartr (“wagon; cart”), merged with native Old English cræt (“a chariot; cart”), from Proto-Germanic *krattaz, *krattijô, *kradō, from Proto-Indo-European *gret- (“tracery; wattle; cradle; cage; basket”), from *ger- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with West Frisian kret (“wheelbarrow for hauling dung”), Dutch krat, kret (“crate; wheelbarrow for hauling dung”), German Krätze (“basket; pannier”). Wider cognates include Sanskrit ग्रन्थ (grantha, “a binding”).

verb/kɑːt/Received-Pronunciation/kɑɹt/General-American
  1. To carry or convey in a cart.

    transitive
  2. To carry goods.

    informal · transitive
    I've been carting these things around all day.
  3. To remove, especially involuntarily or for disposal.

    transitive
  4. To expose in a cart by way of punishment.

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Old Norse kartrbor. Proto-Germanic *kradô Proto-West Germanic *krat Old English crætder. Middle English cart English cart From Middle English cart, kart, from Old Norse kartr (“wagon; cart”), merged with native Old English cræt (“a chariot; cart”), from Proto-Germanic *krattaz, *krattijô, *kradō, from Proto-Indo-European *gret- (“tracery; wattle; cradle; cage; basket”), from *ger- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with West Frisian kret (“wheelbarrow for hauling dung”), Dutch krat, kret (“crate; wheelbarrow for hauling dung”), German Krätze (“basket; pannier”). Wider cognates include Sanskrit ग्रन्थ (grantha, “a binding”).

noun/kɑːt/Received-Pronunciation/kɑɹt/General-American
  1. A tape cartridge used for pre-recorded material such as jingles and advertisements.

    informal
  2. A cartridge for a computer or video game system.

    informal
    My Final Fantasy cart on the NES is still alive and kicking.
  3. A cartridge containing cannabis oil or another drug for use in vape pens; a detachable clearomizer, usually threaded and prefilled.

    informal · slang
    Whoah! Where did you get a DMT cart?
Where this word comes from

Clipping of cartridge.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.