carry off

verb

carried off; carrying off; carries off

transitive verb

1
: to cause the death of
the plague carried off thousands
2
: to perform or manage successfully : bring off
tried to look suave but couldn't carry it off

Examples of carry off in a Sentence

the con artist would never have been able to carry off his schemes if it were not for the greed of his eager victims pray that the pestilence does not carry off any more souls than it already has
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
She was carried off the ballroom floor in a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance. Hilary Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 30 Oct. 2025 Activists, ministers, and community members came and went, day and night, their booming voices carrying off into the Philadelphia air. Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025 But though the iconic museum was initially constructed as a building meant to safeguard and fortify the area, thieves have managed to get through its defenses on a number of occasions and carry off priceless works of art. Solcyré Burga, Time, 20 Oct. 2025 These are fed through a hopper into the reactor vessel to produce a self-regulating fission reaction and are cooled by helium gas that carries off the heat to a heat exchanger to generate steam for electrical generators. New Atlas, 20 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for carry off

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1640, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of carry off was circa 1640

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Carry off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carry%20off. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!