carrot

(karət)

noun

  1. 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
  2. the fleshy, orange-red root of the cultivated strain of this plant (var. sativa), eaten as a vegetable
  3. 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
  1. A biennial Eurasian plant (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) in the parsley family, widely cultivated as an annual for its edible taproot.
  2. The usually tapering, elongate, fleshy orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.
  3. Queen Anne's lace.
  4. 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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