carrot

 
Pronunciation: /ˈkarət/

noun

  • 1a tapering orange-coloured root eaten as a vegetable: roast lamb with peas and carrots [mass noun]: grated carrot [as modifier]: carrot cake carrot juice
  • 2a cultivated plant of the parsley family with feathery leaves, which yields carrots.
    • Daucus carota, family Umbelliferae: two subspecies and many varieties; wild forms lack the swollen root
  • 3an offer of something enticing as a means of persuasion (often contrasted with the threat of something punitive or unwelcome): carrots will promote cooperation over the environment far more effectively than sticksCompare with stick1 (sense 3)
    [with allusion to the proverbial encouragement of a donkey to move by enticing it with a carrot]
  • 4 (carrots) informal, chiefly derogatory a nickname for a red-haired person: He pulled her red plaits and said in a loud whisper, ‘Carrots! Carrots!’

Origin:

late 15th century: from French carotte, from Latin carota, from Greek karōton

Spelling help

Remember that carrot is spelled with a double r but only one t.