Carpet

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: car=pet

CIDE DICTIONARY

Carpet, n. [OF. carpite rug, soft of cloth, F. carpette coarse packing cloth, rug (cf. It. carpita rug, blanket), LL. carpeta, carpita, woolly cloths, fr. L. carpere to pluck, to card (wool); cf. Gr. karpo`s fruit, E. Harvest.].

•  A heavy woven or felted fabric, usually of wool, but also of cotton, hemp, straw, etc.; esp. a floor covering made in breadths to be sewed together and nailed to the floor, as distinguished from a rug or mat; originally, also, a wrought cover for tables.  [1913 Webster]

  "Tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and coverlets."  [1913 Webster]
•  A smooth soft covering resembling or suggesting a carpet.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Carpet beetle or Carpet bug (Zoöl.), a small beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariæ), which, in the larval state, does great damage to carpets and other woolen goods; -- also called buffalo bug. -- Carpet knight. (a) A knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and has not known the hardships of the field; a hero of the drawing room; an effeminate person. Shak. (b) One made a knight, for some other than military distinction or service. -- Carpet moth (Zoöl.), the larva of an insect which feeds on carpets and other woolen goods. There are several kinds. Some are the larvæ of species of Tinea (as Tinea tapetzella); others of beetles, esp. Anthrenus. -- Carpet snake (Zoöl.), an Australian snake. See Diamond snake, under Diamond. -- Carpet sweeper, an apparatus or device for sweeping carpets. -- To be on the carpet, to be under consideration; to be the subject of deliberation; to be in sight; -- an expression derived from the use of carpets as table cover. -- Brussels carpet. See under Brussels.

Carpet, v. t. 

 To cover with, or as with, a carpet; to spread with carpets; to furnish with a carpet or carpets.  [1913 Webster]
"Carpeted temples in fashionable squares."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Carpet, n. & v.
--n.
1 a thick fabric for covering a floor or stairs. b a piece of this fabric.
2 an expanse or layer resembling a carpet in being smooth, soft, bright, or thick (carpet of snow).
--v.tr. (carpeted, carpeting)
1 cover with or as with a carpet.
2 colloq. reprimand, reprove.

Idiom

carpet-bag a travelling-bag of a kind orig. made of carpet-like material. carpet-bagger
1 esp. US a political candidate in an area where the candidate has no local connections (orig. a northerner in the southern US after the Civil War).
2 an unscrupulous opportunist. carpet bombing intensive bombing. carpet slipper a kind of slipper with the upper made orig. of carpet-like material. carpet-sweeper a household implement with a revolving brush or brushes for sweeping carpets.
on the carpet
1 colloq. being reprimanded.
2 under consideration. sweep under the carpet conceal (a problem or difficulty) in the hope that it will be forgotten.

Etymology

ME f. OF carpite or med.L carpita, f. obs. It. carpita woollen counterpane, ult. f. L carpere pluck, pull to pieces

THESAURUS

Carpet

Axminster, Brussels carpet, Caucasian rug, Chinese rug, East Indian rug, Indian rug, Oriental rug, Persian rug, Savonnerie, Turkish rug, Wilton, asphalt, berate, blacktop, body Brussels, broadloom, carpeting, causeway, cement, cobblestone, concrete, cover, deck, doormat, drop cloth, drugget, duckboards, earth, flag, floor, floor covering, floorboards, flooring, ground, ground cloth, ground-sheet, ingrain, lash, mat, metal, moquette, namda, nammad, parquet, pave, pavement, paving, pebble, rail, rate, rug, rugs, surfacing, take to task, tar, tell off, terra firma, throw rug, tiling, upbraid, vituperate, welcome mat, wig