See Also: rug and carpet(encyclopedia)
carpet(2)(dictionary)
carpet(1)(dictionary)
carpet sweeper(dictionary)
carpet slipper(dictionary)
carpet-bomb(dictionary)
magic carpet(dictionary)
carpet 2, verb(dictionary)
carpet 1, noun(dictionary)
Carpet Joint(casino)

carpet(1) (iou)



carpet noun. ME.
[Old French carpite or medieval Latin carpita from Italian carpita woollen counterpane, corresp. to French charpie lint, use as noun of pa. pple of charpir from Proto-Romance var. of Latin carpere pluck, pull to pieces.]
A thick usu. woollen fabric used as a cover for beds, tables, etc.; a piece of this; a tablecloth. obsolete exc. in on the carpet (a) below. ME.
A piece of thick fabric, made in one piece or of lengths joined together, often woven in a pattern of colours, used for covering a floor, stairway, etc.; material for this, carpeting. Also, with specifying word, a rug, esp. a large oriental rug. LME.
Axminster carpet, Brussels carpet, Exeter carpet, Kilim carpet, oriental carpet, Persian carpet, Turkey carpet, Turkish carpet, Turkoman carpet, velvet carpet, Venetian carpet, etc.
fig. A smooth, soft, or bright covering or expanse, as of grass or flowers, resembling a carpet. L16.
b. The ground. slang. L19.
In full carpet-moth. Any of various geometrid moths with variegated colouring. M19.
Phrases: magic carpet: see MAGIC adjective. on the carpet fig. (a) under discussion; (b) colloq. being reprimanded. red carpet: see RED adjective. sweep a thing under the carpet: see SWEEP verb.
Comb.: carpet-bag noun & verb (a) noun a travel bag, orig. made of carpet; (b) verb intrans. (derog., chiefly US) travel lightly, be a carpet-bagger; carpet-bagger (derog., chiefly US) a person seeking to achieve political success or private gain in a place with which he is unconnected (orig. spec. a northerner in the southern US after the Civil War); carpet-bed a garden bed with dwarf plants arranged densely in a pattern; carpet beetle any of various dermestid beetles of the genus Anthrenus, whose larvae are destructive to carpets etc.; carpet bombing the dropping of a large number of bombs uniformly over an area; carpet dance an informal dance for which the carpet is not taken up; carpet knight arch. an idler, a philanderer, a ladies' man; carpet-moth: see sense 4 above; carpet-rod a stair-rod; carpet-shark any of several sharks with irregular markings on the back, esp. of the genus Orectolobus; carpet shell (the shell of) any of various bivalve molluscs of the genus Venerupis (family Veneridae), with irregular coloured markings resembling tapestry; carpet slipper a slipper, orig. with upper made of thick material like carpet; carpet-snake (a) a large variegated specimen of the Australian python Python spilotes; (b) (in the Indian subcontinent) a harmless snake which enters houses, esp. a wolf snake, Lycodon aulicus; carpet square a more or less small square of carpet intended to fit together with others as a floor-covering; carpet sweeper a household implement with a revolving brush or brushes for sweeping carpets.