Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CA-ROUSE', v.i. [carouz'; Fr. carrouse, hard drinking. I know not the real origin of this word. In Pers. كروز karoz, signifies hilarity, singing, dancing. In Ger. rauschen signifies to rush, to fuddle. In Ir. craosal is drunkenness, from craos, excess, reveling.]

To drink hard; to guzzle. In the United States, it signifies also to be noisy, as bacchanalians.

CA-ROUS'ER, n.

A drinker; a toper; a noisy reveler, or bacchanalian.

CA-ROUS'ING, ppr.

Drinking hard; reveling.

CA-ROUS'ING-LY, adv.

In a carousing manner.

CARP, n. [Fr. and Port. carpe; Sp. carpa; It. carpione; Arm. carpen; Russ. karp; D. karper; G. karpfen; Dan. karpe; Sw. karp; Low L. carpio, from carpo, to seize.]

A fish, a species of Cyprinus, an excellent fish for ponds. These fishes breed rapidly, grow to a large size, and live to a great age. – Encyc.

CARP, v.i. [L. carpo, to seize, catch, pick; It. carpire; Sp. and Port. carpir, to tear or scratch. See Carve.]

Literally to snap or catch at, or to pick. Hence, to censure, cavil, or find fault, particularly without reason, or petulantly; followed by at. No, not a tooth or nail to scratch, / And at my actions carp and catch. – Herbert.

CARP'AL, a. [L. carpus, the wrist.]

Pertaining to the wrist. – Encyc.

CAR-PA'THI-AN, a.

Pertaining to the Carpates, a range of mountains between Poland, Hungary and Transylvania.

CAR'PEL, or CAR-PEL'LUM, n.

In botany, a small seed-vessel or pericarp, that is one of an aggregate, produced by a single flower. – De Cand. A carpel is formed by a folded leaf, the upper surface of which is turned inward, the lower outward, and the margins of which develop one or more buds, which are the ovula. – Lindley.

CAR'PEL-LA-RY, a.

Belonging to carpels; or containing them. – Lindley.

CAR'PEN-TER, n. [Fr. charpentier; Sp. carpintero; Port. carpenteiro; It. carpentiere, a cart-wright, or coach-maker; L. carpentarius, from carpentum, a chariot.]

An artificer who works in timber; a framer and builder of houses, and of ships. Those who build houses are called house-carpenters, and those who build ships are called ship-carpenters. In New-England, a distinction is often made between the man who frames, and the man who executes the interior wood-work of a house. The framer is the carpenter, and the finisher is called a joiner. This distinction is noticed by Johnson, and seems to be a genuine English distinction. But in some other parts of America, as in New-York, the term carpenter includes both the framer and the joiner; and in truth both branches of business are often performed by the same person. The word is never applied, as in Italy and Spain, to a coach-maker.

CAR'PEN-TRY, n.

The art of cutting, framing, and joining timber, in the construction of buildings; divided into house-carpentry and ship-carpentry.

CARP'ER, n.

One who carps; a caviler.

CAR'PET, n. [I know not the origin of this word.]

1. A covering for floors, tables, stairs, &c. This covering is usually made of wool, wrought with a needle, or more generally in a loom, but is sometimes made of other materials. The manufacture is of Asiatic origin, but has been introduced into many parts of Europe, and into the United States.
2. Level ground covered, as with grass; as, a grassy carpet; a carpet of green grass. – Shak. Ray. To be on the carpet, is to be under consideration; to be the subject of deliberation. The French phrase, to be on the tapis, is used in the like sense. Carpet-knight, in Shakspeare, is a knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and has not known the hardships of the field. Carpet-monger is used in a like sense.

CAR'PET, v.t.

To cover with a carpet; to spread with carpets. – Bacon. Derham.

CAR'PET-ED, pp.

Covered with a carpet.

CAR'PET-ING, n.

Cloth for carpets; carpets in general.

CAR'PET-STRIP, n.

The piece under a door to raise it above the carpet.

CAR'PET-WALK, n.

A walk on smooth turf. – Evelyn.

CARP'ING, n.

The act, of caviling; a cavil; unreasonable censure.

CARP'ING, ppr.

Caviling; captious; censorious. – Watts.

CARP'ING-LY, adv.

Captiously; in a carping manner. – Camden.

CARP'MEALS, n.

A kind of coarse cloth made in the north of England. – Philips.

CARP'O-LITE, n. [Gr. καρπος, fruit, and λιθος, stone.]

Petrified fruits, of which the most remarkable are nuts converted into silex.

CARP-OL'O-GIST, n. [Gr. καρπος, fruit, and λεγω, to speak.]

One who describes fruits.