carton

1 of 2

noun

car·​ton ˈkär-tᵊn 

: a box or container usually made of cardboard and often of corrugated cardboard

several cartons of books

carton

2 of 2

verb

cartoned; cartoning; cartons

transitive verb

: to pack or enclose in a carton

intransitive verb

: to shape cartons from cardboard sheets

Examples of carton in a Sentence

Noun

She got a carton of ice cream out of the freezer.

a carton of orange juice

He bought a carton of cigarettes.

Several cartons of books arrived yesterday.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Her twin brother, Connor (Keen Ruffalo), by contrast, spends his morning teasing Annie and drinking chocolate milk straight from the carton. — Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 27 July 2026

More than 200 million cartons of these three products are sold each year. — Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 26 July 2026

Consumers should look for identifying code P-1950 or 0840962 and a Julian date between 157 and 184 printed on the side of the carton. — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 24 July 2026

Also affected are Simple Truth Cage-Free Medium Brown 12 egg cartons, along with the brand’s Cage-Free Large Brown 12 egg, 18 egg and 24 egg cartons with the same identifying code and date ranges. — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

French, from Italian cartone pasteboard

First Known Use

Noun

1906, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1921, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for carton

• garten
• marten
• parton
• spartan
• tartan
• kindergarten

Kids Definition

carton

noun

car·​ton

ˈkärt-ᵊn

: a paperboard box or container

Etymology

Noun

from French carton "cardboard box," from Italian cartone "pasteboard," from carta "sheet of paper," from Latin charta "piece of papyrus" — related to card entry 3, cartoon