carrot
Pluralcarrots
Pluralcarrots
- 1A vegetable grown for its nutritious, juicy, sweet root, usually orange, of the species Daucus carota.
He pulled a fresh carrot from the soil and brushed off the dirt.
The recipe calls for two carrots, finely grated.
UsageUse a carrot or carrots for whole ones, and carrot with no article in food: grated carrot, carrot cake.
- 2A reward or incentive offered as a way to motivate someone to do something.
Management dangled the promise of promotion as a carrot to boost productivity.
The treaty used trade benefits as a carrot to bring the smaller nations on board.
UsageOften the carrot and the stick (reward and punishment), or dangle a carrot.
Similarincentive, inducement, reward, enticement, lure
Oppositestick
Note
Half of a pairing: the carrot is the reward and the stick is the punishment, and talk of policy often sets them against each other, as when lawmakers "replaced the sticks with carrots." Used this way it takes a plural freely, so a plan can consist "almost entirely of carrots," as Paul Krugman described tax credits and subsidies in The New York Times in 2023.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The quoted wording about lawmakers replacing sticks with carrots is attested. en.wiktionary.org
- Paul Krugman used the quoted phrase for tax credits and subsidies in a New York Times article published in 2023. energiesnet.com
- 3A shade of orange that resembles the flesh of most carrots, also known as carrot orange.
The designer chose carrot for the accent wall.
His sweater was a vivid carrot that stood out in the crowd.
Less common meanings
- 4A teasing nickname, usually in the form 'Carrots', for a person with red or ginger hair.
With her bright copper hair, she got used to strangers on the street calling her Carrots.
He hated being called Carrots as a kid, but now he is proud of his red hair.
UsageUsually the nickname Carrots; it can be teasing, so redhead is the safer word.
- 5A derogatory term for someone from a rural background.
- 6A police officer from somewhere in the British Isles, outside Greater London.
- 7To treat an animal pelt with a solution of mercuric nitrate as part of making felt.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Latin carōta, taken from Ancient Greek καρωτόν (karōtón), passed into Middle French as carotte and into Middle English as karette, and English drew on both. It is a doublet of carotte, is related to caraway, and took the place of the native Middle English word more.