▪ I. cart, n.
(kɑːt)
Forms: 3–7 carte, (3 karte, 3–4 kart), 6 (charte), Sc. cairt, 3– cart.
[OE., had cræt neut., pl. cratu, app. related to Du. krat neut. ‘hind part of a cart’ (which is, however, only mod.Du. and suspected to be of recent adoption). Some compare OHG. cratto, crezzo, masc., MHG. kratte, kretze (m. and f.) basket, hamper, panier, mod.G. dial. krätze fem., basket (cf. crate), and suppose that OE. cræt was prop. a cart of basketwork, but of this there is no actual evidence. ON. had kart-r masc. ‘cart’, generally considered to be cognate with the OE. word; and since the ME. was always cart(e, and never crat, its direct source appears to have been the ON., rather than the OE. word.
If ME. cart(e had merely arisen by metathesis of r from OE. cræt, we should expect some overlapping of forms as in the case of brid, bird; one may note, however, that OE. cræt-wǽn exists in mod.Welsh as cartwen. Cart has entered from Eng. into most of the Celtic langs.; but is there palpably a foreign word.]
† 1. A carriage of any kind; a chariot, car. Obs.
| [a 800 Corpus Gloss., Carruca (MS. carcura), cræt. c 1000 ælfric Gen. l. 9 He hæfde..cratu and ridende men. c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 426/6 In carruca on cræte.] |
| c 1200 Ormin 48 Alls iff þeȝȝ karrte wærenn off wheless fowwre. c 1205 Lay. 11396 Mid carte he [Aldolf] for to Lundene. a 1300 Cursor M. 6220 He..cuppel did his cartes all. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxvii. 18 Þe kart of god is ten thowsand manyfald. 1382 Wyclif Matt. Prol., They ben as foure whelis in the foure horsid carte of the lord. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 943 Pheton wolde lede Algate hys Fader Carte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Cart, biga, reda, quadriga. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 72/2 Salamon had xl M. Packes for the horses of his cartes, chases, and curres. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 34 On every side of his embatteld cart. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 165 Full thirtie Times hath Phoebus Cart gon round Neptunes salt Wash, and Tellus Orbed ground. |
2. a. spec. A strong vehicle with two wheels, and without springs, used in farming operations, and for carrying heavy goods of various kinds. (Distinguished from a
wagon, which has four wheels.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 189 So gret charge..Of mules, of cartes, and of hors mydde alle gode. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. 1259 To cayre at þe kart & þe kuy mylke. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 200 A carte ful of donge ther shalt thou see. c 1450 Merlin ii. 37 This erthe may be hadde a-wey..in cartes. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §19 Any wodde, cole, or tymbre to cary..with thy charte or wayne. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. vii. (1651) 350 As good horses draw in carts as coaches. 1623 J. Taylor (Water P.) World on Wheeles (1630) 235 A Cart is the Embleme of a Man, and a Coach is the Figure of a Beast: for as man hath two legges, a cart hath two wheeles. 1847 Emerson Poems, Monadnoc, Their talismans are ploughs and carts. 1877 Page De Quincey I. vii. 128 A common farmer's cart was brought. |
b. With various
ns. indicating its use, as
baggage-cart,
dung-cart,
dust-cart,
harvest-cart,
hay-cart,
luggage-cart, etc., or the animal that draws it, as
donkey-cart.
| 1642 in Thornbury Haunted London (1865) 385 Paid to the same for the night-cart and cover..{pstlg}7 9s. 1710 Brit. Apollo III. No. 26. 3/2, I..was Poyson'd with Night-Carts. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. v. (1809) 89 On a hay, pea, or dust cart. Ibid. xv. 126 Some Mackerel carts on the road. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 52 Conveyed here on the baggage cart. 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. ii. (1886) 23 Wheat, dropped by a harvest cart upon a road. |
† c. Formerly used for conveying convicts to the gallows, and instead of a drop; also for the public exposure and chastisement of offenders,
esp. lewd women.
Cf. cart v. 2,
cart's-tail.
Obs.| 1624 Heywood Captives v. iii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, They will spitt at us and doom us Unto the post and cart. 1682 Dryden Loyal Bro. Prol. 34 Like thief and parson in a Tyburn-cart. 1708 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 81 That Marg{supt} Justice be whipt next day att a cart's arse, and..Jane Justice be carryed in the cart at the same time from the Exchange to Jane Justice's house. 1800 Coleridge Piccolom. i. xii, Your windows and balconies all forestall'd To see him on the executioner's cart. 1861 Thackeray Lovel 263 (Hoppe) She was always fitting the halter and traversing the cart..but she for ever declined to drop the handkerchief and have the business over. |
3. A two-wheeled vehicle of lighter or more elegant make, with springs, drawn by one horse at a rapid pace. Often specified as
spring-cart (which varies least from 2),
mail cart,
village cart; also
dog-cart, taxed cart,
q.v.| 1823 Act 4 Geo. IV, xcv. §19 Any..chaise, curricle, gig, chair, or taxed cart. 1835 Sir G. Stephen Adv. in Search Horse ii. 34 Tradesmen who require light carts for the conveyance of their goods. 1848 Thackeray Let. 1 Nov., A party of us drove in an Oxford Cart to Blenheim. Mod. He met me at the station with his village cart. |
† 4. a. Some kind of transport vessel. (? error.)
| 1568 C. Watson Polyb. i. 26 After the third Navy came the carts [τὰς ἱππηγούς] and foists in which their horses were transported. |
b. The carapace or upper shell of a crab.
colloq. or
dial.| 1860 Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) s.v. Carts, In Norfolk the carapace of a crab is called a crab cart. 1887 Girl's Own Paper 16 July 661/2 Pick the meat from the cart, the breastplate, and the claws. |
5. Proverbs and
Phrases.
to set or put the cart before the horse: to reverse the natural or proper order.
† to be left out of the cart's tail: (see
quot.).
† to keep cart on wheels: ? ‘to keep straight’, or ‘to keep things going’. Also
in the cart: in an awkward, false, or losing position; in serious difficulties (
cf. sense 2 c) (
slang).
| [1340 Ayenb. 243 Moche uolk of religion zetteþ þe zuolȝ be-uore þe oksen.] 1520 Whittinton Vulg. (1527) 2 That techer setteth the carte before the horse that preferreth imitacyon before preceptes. a 1541 Wyatt Defence 265 It is a common proverb, ‘I am left out of the carts tail,’ and it is taken upon packing gear together for carriage, that it is evil taken heed to, or negligently, slips out of the cart, and is lost. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Q. Cordila v. 5 Lest I set the horse behinde the cart. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 181 We call it in English prouerbe, the cart before the horse, the Greeks call it Histeron proteron, we name it the Preposterous. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 244 May not an Asse know, when the Cart drawes the Horse? 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Oye, The cart leads the horse; the young instruct the old. 1662 Newcome Diary (1849) 56, I must walke closer with God or I cannot keep cart on wheeles. 1705 E. Ward Hud. Rediv. ii. iii. p. 26 Excuse me, that the Muses force The Cart to stand before the Horse. 1863 Kingsley Water-Babies iv. 176 They..having, as usual, set the cart before the horse, and taken the effect for the cause. 1889 Evening Standard 25 June 1/3 In two races..Sir George Chetwynd—to use a vulgarism—had been ‘put in the cart’ by his jockey. 1908 Punch 12 Feb. 110 We were simply all over 'em, and had 'em in the cart in no time. Ibid. 4 Nov. 334 Something..tells me I am fairly in the cart. 1909 A. Bennett Literary Taste 27 The passionate few do not read ‘the right things’ because they are right. That is to put the cart before the horse. 1914 W. S. Maugham Smith 13 Emily was left in the cart? 1924 J. B. Hobbs Cricket Mem. 158 We made 238, which was enough practically to put South Africa hopelessly in the cart. 1945 R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 152 There is a glib saying..that ‘trade follows the flag’; an apophthegm that succeeds in putting the cart before the horse with greater aplomb than almost any other cant phrase in common use. 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral. & N.Z. vi. 137 Sargeson's French translator..had some slang shared with English to translate, and job (boulot), tight (noir), spree (nouba), in the cart (dans le pétrin)..are neatly managed. |
6. Comb., as
cart-driver (formerly also
= charioteer),
cart-filler,
cart-gelding,
cart-grease,
cart-harness,
cart-horse,
cart-jade,
cart-maker,
cart-pitch,
cart-road,
cart-room,
cart-rope,
cart-shed,
cart-thill,
cart-track (
cart-tract);
cart-aver (
Sc.) a cart-horse (see
aver n. 3);
† cart-band, ? the tire of a cart-wheel;
cart-body, that part of a cart which holds the load (see
body n. 8 g);
† cart-bote,
-boot (
Feudal Syst.), an allowance of wood to a tenant for making and repairing carts (see
boot n.1 5 b);
† cart-bread (see
quot.);
† cart-clout, an iron plate to protect the axle-tree from wear;
† cart-gate = cart-way;
† cart-gun ? a cannon mounted on a carriage;
cart-head, the front of a cart (
cf. cart's-tail);
cart-ladder (
-leather), a rack or framework at the front, back, or sides of a cart, to increase its carrying capacity; called also
lead-trees;
cart-lodge [
lodge n. 1 c]
local, a shed or out-house where carts are kept;
cart-man, a man who drives a cart;
† cart-nave, ? the nave of a cart-wheel;
† cart-piece, ?
= cart-gun;
† cart-ritt = cart-rut;
cart-road = cart-way;
cart-ruck,
-rut, the deep rut cut in soft ground by the wheels of a cart; hence
cart-rutted a.;
cart-saddle, the small saddle placed on the back of a cart- or carriage-horse to support the shafts; also
† as
v. trans., to put a cart-saddle on, to yoke;
† cart-spur,
-spirn, a cart-track [
OE. spor track;
cf. spoor];
† cart-staff, the shaft of a cart; also applied to other parts of a cart;
† cart-taker, the officer who impressed carts for the king's service; so
† cart-taking;
cart-tire, the tire of a cart-wheel;
cart-track, a track along which a cart has gone; a cart-rut;
cart-warping (see
quot.). See also cart-ful, -horse, -house, -load, -tail,
-way, -wheel, -whip, -wright.
| 1822 Scott Pirate iv, The carles and the *cart-avers..make it all; and the carles and the cart-avers eat it all. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 54 A *carte band, crusta. |
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. (1857) 167 Le chartil, the *carte body. 1407 in Kennett Par. Antiq. (1818) II. 213 Et pro sarratione et dolatione unius Cartbody..vi[{supd}]. 1779 in Narrag. Hist. Reg. I. 93 Went to Tower hill for a cart body. 1834 W. G. Simms Guy Rivers 414 The conflagration..destroyed his cart-body and calicoes. |
| 1594 West Symbol. ii. Chancerie §88 Surrender..the said tenement and premisses..with sufficient *cartbote, heybote, and hedgebote. 1726 Ayliffe Parerg. 506 If a man cuts Trees for..Cartboot, Ploughboot and Fireboot. |
| 1580 Baret Alv. C 149 Bread solde in markets in London; *cart bread. |
| 1446 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) I. 95, J carecta cum rotis iiij hopis et viij *cartecloutez. 1622 F. Markham Bk. War iii. x. 119 Nailes for Tyers, and all other purposes..Spunges, Chaines, Cart-clouts, Weights. |
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. viii, A Prince? nay an Incendiary..a Stage-plaier, a *Cart-driuer. |
| c 1505 Dunbar Compl. to King 25 Chaff-midden churls cuming off *cart-fillaris. |
| 1594 Manch. Crt. Leet Rec. (1885) II. 89 There hath bene a *Cartgate..betwixte the landes. |
| 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 644 *Cart-grease must be used. |
| 1550 Hall Chron. 18 Hen. VIII, 156 The Cardinal..had there *cart gonnes ready charged. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xviii, Mending his *cart-harness. |
| 1812 W. Tennant Anster F. ix, On his *cart-head, sits the goodman. |
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 174 With al his clownes, hoist vpon such *cart-jades, so furnished, etc. |
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 And a *carte ladder behinde whan he shall carye eyther corne or kyddes or such other..Theyr waynes haue carte ladders bothe behynde and before. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. I. s.v. Cart, The Cart-Leathers. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Cart, Cart-ladders, the crooked pieces set over the wheels to keep hay and straw loaden off them. |
| 1888 *Cart lodge [see lodge n. 1 c]. 1915 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 432 A little cart-lodge was sliding sideways amid a clatter of tiles. 1933 Brit. Birds XXVII. 25 A Blackbird..built a nest on the horizontal beam..above the open front of a cart-lodge in south-west Kent. |
| 1580 North Plutarch 138 *Cart-makers..Sadlers, Coller-makers. |
| 1719–54 W. Sewel Eng.-Dutch Dict. s.v. Sleeper, The *Cart-men at London. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 212 A cartman driving full-tilt through Broadway. 1881 Echo 28 Jan. 4/3 Embezzlement by a Cartman. 1882 Atlantic Monthly XLIX. 678 Nearly all the cartmen and porters are negroes. |
| c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 628 Timpana *cartenave. |
| a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I, 14 May, Thair cam..tua uther iron *cart peices to the schoir. |
| 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 255 Well smeared with *cart-pitch and tar. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, clxxxv, Revenue run's faire..The other *Cart-Ritt holds but for a while. |
| 1607 Topsell Foure-Footed Beasts 536 The Shrew, which falling by chaunce into a *Cart-roade or tracke doth die vpon the same. 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxx. 157 A cart-road which plunged deep into a wood. |
| 1832 Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. (1863) 445 A miniature farm-yard, with stabling for two, *cart-room for one. |
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. v. 18 Wo vnto vayne personnes, that drawe..synne as it were with a *cart rope. 1623 Massinger Bondman i. iii, A cart-rope Shall not bind me at home. 1659 Gauden Brownrig (1660) 162 He drew all..not by the cart-ropes of rigor and imperiousness. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xi, I will have his meaning from him..if I should drag it out with cart-ropes. |
| 1823 Lamb Elia, Oxford in Vac. 319 The..quill, that has plodded..among the *cart-rucks of figures and ciphers. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 351 The earth taken from a *cart-rut where a wheele hath gon. 1669 Woodhead St. Teresa ii. xxxv. 233 To pull the coaches out of the cart-rotes. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 135 The cart-rut rippled down With the burden of the rain. |
| 1881 Poynter Among Hills I. 153 A steep, *cart-rutted lane. |
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 179 *Cartesadel the comissarie, Oure cart shal he lede. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2777/4 A black punch Gelding..gall'd with the Cart-Saddle on the off side. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 55 A *carte spurre, orbita. 1528 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 496 It haith chaunced me..to take a fall of my horse, and to breke my left arme, overthuart a cartspirn. |
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2198 Ȝe beþ men bet iteiȝt to ssofle & spade To *cartstaf & to ploustaf. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Cart, Cartstaves, those that hold the cart and the raers together. |
| 1455 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 24 *Carte Takers—Richard Rede, etc. 1653 A. Wilson Jas. 1, 11 Purveyors, cart-takers, and such insolent officers. 1782 S. Pegge Cur. Misc. (1818) 33 The King's Cart-takers, a post which is now in being though out of use. |
| 1671 F. Philipps Reg. Necess. 46 To be freed from Pourveyance and *Cart-taking. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 493 The French white Ash..will bend well for *cart-thills and fellies. |
| Ibid. II. 365 Snailes (such..as are found betweene two *cart-tracts). 1827 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 60 The roads through the coppice..have the appearance of mere cart-tracks. |
| 1839 Stonehouse Axholme 43 Another method by which the sediment of the Trent water is made highly beneficial to the adjoining land..is termed *‘cart warping’, the alluvial soil being led on the land during a hard frost or in very dry weather. |
▪ II. cart, v. (
kɑːt)
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To carry or convey in a cart; also
fig. to cart off or
cart away: to carry off or away in a cart; hence
gen. to carry off, take away, remove.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Cartyn or lede wythe a carte, carruco. 1663 Aron-bimn. 7 When the Ark was to be Carted to the City of David. 1807 De Quincey in Page Life I. vii. 129 We were all carted to the little town. |
† b. To mount on a cart or carriage.
Obs.| 1550 Hall Chron. 5 Hen. VIII, 27 The pece of ordinaunce was raysed & carted, and furthe was it caried. |
c. Anglo-Indian. (See
quot.)
| 1837 T. Bacon First Impr. Hindostan I. 137 Carting a girl, or riding out with her, is considered in India as a regular publication of the banns. |
d. Cricket.
trans. and intr. To hit (a ball) hard and high. So with the bowler as
obj.| 1903 Wodehouse Tales St. Austin's 35 Half-way through the over I carted a half-volley into the pav. 1903 ― Prefect's Uncle xiii. 188 ‘When have you seen him?’ ‘In a scratch game between his form and another. He was carting all over the shop. Made thirty something.’ 1961 Times 30 May 4/1 He carted Halfyard to square leg for six. |
e. trans. fig. To carry as in a cart, to convey (something heavy or cumbersome) over a long distance or with considerable effort; to carry or take unceremoniously. Freq. with advbs., as
about,
away,
off, etc.
colloq.| 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. 31, I hereby cart away as so much rubbish, the impertinences, with which the Pamphlet swarms. 1881 Punch 8 Oct. 166/2 Napier and Havelock might be carted off to join the poor Duke of Kent at the top of Portland Place. 1891 Farmer Slang. 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat v. 71 Then Harris and I..carted out our luggage on to the doorstep, and waited for a cab. 1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 215 I've just seed Liz Dukeson..her that Cocky uster cart abaht. 1909 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 241 We knew that Barbie carted around at all times what they call a spirit of combativity. 1936 A. Ransome Pigeon Post xvi. 161 What about taking spades? We don't want to cart them up there for nothing. 1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse i. 22 This was by no means the only time cousin Ethelbert carted animals about in trains or lorries. 1959 F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) ii. 13 Married in her teens, she was in her early twenties when she took on the challenging job of carting her two brats to New York in search of a career. 1982 B. Trapido Brother of More Famous Jack xi. 46, I tell him how..we carted home a great quantity of accumulated litter from our desks in a plaid blanket which we carried between us down the hill. |
† 2. spec. To carry in a cart through the streets, by way of punishment or public exposure (
esp. as the punishment of a bawd).
Obs.| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 55 Leaue shall you haue to court her at your pleasure. Gre. To cart her rather. She's to rough for mee. 1607 Dekker, &c. Northw. Hoe i. iii. Wks. 1873 III. 13, I was neuer Carted (but in haruest) neuer whipt but at Schoole. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. i. 81 Democritus ne'er laugh'd so loud, To see Bawds carted through the crowd. 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. i. 150 Vice..lifts her scarlet head, And sees pale Virtue carted in her stead. 1812 Crabbe T. of Hall i. (D.) Suspected, tried, condemned, and carted in a day. |
3. intr. or absol. To work with a cart; to use a cart.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 62 Hit by-comeþ for..knaues vncrouned to cart and to worche. 1463 Marg. Paston Lett. 480 II. 143 Your grey hors..nowthyr ryght good to plowe nor to carte. 1707 J. Mortimer Husb. (L.) Oxen are not so good..where you have occasion to cart much. |
4. trans. To put (someone) ‘in the cart’ (see
prec. 5); to cause to feel let down.
slang.
| 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 228/2 An owner is said to be ‘in the cart’, or carted, when his horse is prevented winning by some fraud on the part of those in his employment. 1923 T. E. Lawrence Let. 13 June (1938) 425 A temporary job at a high salary would only cart me worse than ever in the end. 1934 ― Let. 16 Nov. 825 Poets are always..savagely political: and the real politician..always carts them properly. Poets hope too much. 1948 Hansard CDXLVIII. 1054 Many had lived in camp according to the promised scale of pay, with the result that they lived beyond their means. To use an Army expression, ‘They were properly carted’. |