carrot

noun

car·​rot ˈker-ət 

ˈka-rət

1

: a biennial herb (Daucus carota of the family Apiaceae synonym Umbelliferae, the carrot family) with a usually orange spindle-shaped edible root

also : its root

2

: a reward or advantage offered especially as an inducement

The company offered a carrot in the form of additional vacation time to workers who met their deadlines.

Examples of carrot in a Sentence

She chopped some carrots for the soup.

He added some grated carrot to the soup.

The company offered a carrot in the form of additional vacation time to workers who met their deadlines.

Recent Examples on the Web

Drizzle the glaze over the carrots, and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. —Andrea Kane, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025

For example, try cutting your strawberries into roses or shaping your carrots and cucumbers into little flowers and stars. —Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Nov. 2025

Advertisement In 2023, a team of scientists at North Dakota State University found microplastics were released into carrots after being chopped on plastic boards. —Matt Fuchs, Time, 24 Nov. 2025

Women in elegant African-print dresses carry burdens on their heads; men in cast-off Western clothes push wooden carts laden with potatoes and carrots. —Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French carotte, from Late Latin carota, from Greek karōton

First Known Use

1533, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing carrot

• carrot-and-stick
• carrot cake
• wild carrot

Rhymes for carrot

• barret

Kids Definition

carrot

noun

car·​rot ˈkar-ət 

: the long orange edible root of a common garden plant that is eaten as a vegetable

also : a plant that produces a carrot

Medical Definition

carrot

noun

car·​rot ˈkar-ət 

: a biennial plant of the genus Daucus (D. carota of the family Apiaceae synonym Umbelliferae, the carrot family) that bears seeds which have been used especially as a diuretic and stimulant and that in cultivated varieties has a yellow or orange-red tapering root which is used as a vegetable

also : its root