carry on
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkæɹi ˈɑn/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Etymology 1
[edit]Equivalent to carry onward.
Verb
[edit]carry on (third-person singular simple present carries on, present participle carrying on, simple past and past participle carried on)
- (idiomatic, intransitive) To continue or proceed as before.
- I’ll be gone for a few days, but I hope you will carry on in my absence.
- (idiomatic, transitive) To continue, maintain or pursue (an activity or enterprise).
- to carry on commerce in a market
- Carry on the good work.
- It is difficult to carry on a conversation with so many distractions.
- 1897, Charles Clive Bigham Mersey, A ride through western Asia, London, New York: Macmillan, →OCLC, page 18:
- He carried on a long conversation with the dragoman in Turkish, the upshot of which was that he would give me a "buyuruldu" or special order to go to Sivas, and would provide an escort if the British Consul would send a written guarantee that I was a bona fide traveller.
- 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 755:
- The Schynige Platte Railway carries on its traffic with no more than four electric locomotives (with one steam locomotive in reserve).
- 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 52:
- In his favour, Beeching declared that he supported carrying on with the existing modernisation projects, but that the rest of the business needed root and branch reform.
- (idiomatic, intransitive) To talk continuously (about something), often in an excessively excited way
- He’s always carrying on about his stupid aquarium.
- (idiomatic, intransitive) To act or behave; especially, to misbehave so as to attract attention; to make a fuss; to behave ostentatiously.
- Synonym: see misbehave § Synonyms
- I really wish you wouldn't carry on like that in public!
- (idiomatic, intransitive) To have an illicit sexual or flirtatious relationship.
- I thought he was my friend, but all the time he was carrying on with my wife!
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Equivalent to carry onto.
Verb
[edit]carry on (third-person singular simple present carries on, present participle carrying on, simple past and past participle carried on)
- (idiomatic, transitive) To take baggage or luggage onto an airplane, rather than check it.
- You may only carry on items that are smaller than a certain size.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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to continue, maintain or pursue an activity or enterprise (transitive) — see also continue, maintain, pursue
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- en:Talking