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carrot
(kar′ət)
noun
- a biennial plant (Daucus carota) of the umbel family, with fernlike leaves and compound umbels of white flowers, usually with one red flower in the center: only the cultivated variety is edible
- the fleshy, orange-red root of the cultivated strain of this plant (var. sativa), eaten as a vegetable
- something offered as a tantalizing but deceptive inducement, like a carrot dangled before a donkey's nose
Origin: MFr carotte < L carota < Gr karōton, carrot; akin to kara, head: see horn
See carrot in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A biennial Eurasian plant (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) in the parsley family, widely cultivated as an annual for its edible taproot.
- The usually tapering, elongate, fleshy orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.
- Queen Anne's lace.
- A reward offered for desired behavior; an inducement: “The U.S. should use a moratorium on SDI development as a carrot to bring an acceptable offensive arms limitation” (C. Peter Gall).
Origin:
Origin: French carotte
Origin: , from Old French garroite
Origin: , from Latin carōta
Origin: , from Greek karōton; see ker-1 in Indo-European roots
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