noun
carpet
KAH-piht
noun
1
A thick woven fabric covering used on floors.
"They chose a soft grey carpet for the living room."
"The hallway carpet was worn thin from years of foot traffic."
2
A thick layer of something covering a surface, resembling a carpet.
"A carpet of fallen leaves covered the path."
verb
1
To cover a floor with carpet.
"They carpeted the stairs to make them quieter."
2
Informally, to scold someone severely.
"The manager carpeted him for missing the deadline."
How to Use Carpet
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA soft floor covering made of woven or tufted fabric, or figuratively any thick covering layer; as a verb it can also mean "to tell someone off."
UK vs US
"To carpet someone" meaning to scold them is mainly British usage.
Common pairings
wall-to-wall carpet
carpet of snow
roll out the carpet
Word Forms
carpeted past tense, carpets plural, carpets singular
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They chose a soft grey _____ for the living room.
Etymology
From Old French carpite, tracing back through Medieval Latin to an Armenian word for a woven rug — the trade route for early carpets left its mark on the word itself.