cart

1 of 2

noun

ˈkärt 

plural carts

1

: a heavy usually horse-drawn 2-wheeled vehicle used for farming or transporting freight

2

: a lightweight 2-wheeled vehicle drawn by a horse, pony, or dog

3

a

: a small wheeled vehicle see golf cart, grocery cart, shopping cart sense 1

b

: a table with wheels that is used especially for serving food

I make conversation after asking to look at the menu: That apple tart on the dessert cart—who made it, and what's in the crust?

—Corby Kummer

4

: a temporary record of items selected for purchase from an online vendor : shopping cart sense 2

You head back to your favorite Web shopping site, and the stuff you crammed in your cart last time is still there, waiting for you to buy it or dump it.

—Neil Randall

cart

2 of 2

verb

carted; carting; carts

transitive verb

1

: to carry or convey in or as if in a cart

… buses to cart the kids to and from school.

—L. S. Gannett

2

: to take or drag away without ceremony or by force

—usually used with off

they carted him off to jail

carter noun

Synonyms of cart

Noun

• wagon

Verb

• carry
• haul
• transport
• ferry
• pack
• bring

Examples of cart in a Sentence

Noun

a cart piled up with hay

Verb

We carted some dirt to the garden.

I carted all the books home.

He carted the bags away.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

These tools include a new reserved cart which only holds items for checkout for a limited time before releasing them back into the storefront. — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 14 July 2026

Fans of Stanley and Musgrave alike can peruse the company's website and add the full collection to their carts now, or continue scrolling to shop the individual pieces. — Kelsey Legg, ABC News, 14 July 2026

Verb

Many patients visit the renowned clinic looking for a third or fourth opinion, carting with them unsorted documents from external health systems. — Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 16 July 2026

Early on, refinery waste was sometimes just carted away and dumped, as happened in Fullerton in World War II. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, probably from Old Norse kartr; akin to Old English cræt cart

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cart

• crash cart
• go-cart
• golf cart
• grocery cart
• put the cart before the horse
• shopping cart
• tea cart
• upset the apple cart

Rhymes for cart

• art
• carte
• chart
• dart
• fart
• haart
• mart
• part
• smart
• start
• tart
• apart

Kids Definition

cart

1 of 2 noun

ˈkärt 

1

: a heavy two-wheeled wagon usually pulled by a horse

2

: a light usually two-wheeled vehicle

pony cart

cart

2 of 2 verb

: to carry in or as if in a cart

carter noun