What does cart mean?
A cart is a wheeled vehicle or container designed for transporting goods, ranging from simple hand-pushed trolleys in supermarkets to horse-drawn wagons that have moved cargo for thousands of years. The word also functions as a verb: to cart something means to haul it from place to place, frequently with a suggestion of effort or inconvenience — one carts boxes up stairs or gets carted off to an unwelcome appointment. Carts appear throughout everyday life, from shopping aisles to golf courses, where a golf cart carries players and their clubs. The term is embedded in English idiom through phrases such as 'to put the cart before the horse', meaning to do things in the wrong order. Regional variation matters: American speakers say shopping cart, while British speakers typically say shopping trolley. Simple, ancient, and indispensable, the cart remains one of humanity's most enduring tools.
A wheeled vehicle or open container for carrying goods, either pushed by hand or drawn by an animal.
"The vendor wheeled his cart through the market square each morning."
In North America this includes supermarket shopping carts; in British English these are called trolleys.
To transport something, especially laboriously or inconveniently, or to convey someone somewhere, often unwillingly.
"They had to cart all the furniture up three flights of stairs."
Standard plural; applies only to the noun senses of the word.
"Several carts were lined up outside the store."
The phrase 'put the cart before the horse' has been scolding illogical people since the Middle Ages — and the cart itself predates written history.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cart
Cart comes from Old Norse 'kartr', which was borrowed into Middle English during the period of Scandinavian influence on English. It belongs to a wider Germanic family of transport words ultimately connected to Latin 'carrus' (a two-wheeled wagon), the same root behind 'car', 'carry', 'chariot', and 'cargo'. The verb form, meaning to convey goods, developed naturally from the noun and has been in use since at least the early modern period.
Related word forms
How cart is actually used
In American English, 'cart' is the standard term for the wheeled basket used in supermarkets, while British English strongly prefers 'trolley'. The verb sense often carries a connotation of effort, burden, or reluctance — you cart heavy things, and people are sometimes 'carted off' somewhere they'd rather not go. In golf contexts, 'cart' refers to the small motorized or push vehicle for clubs and players.
Easily confused with cart
'Cort' is a proper noun (a guitar brand and a surname) with no relation to the common noun 'cart'.
'Carte' (as in à la carte) is a French-derived word meaning menu or card, whereas a cart is a wheeled vehicle for carrying goods.