Noun

carp (plural carp or carps)Category:English lemmas#CARPCategory:English nouns#CARPCategory:English countable nouns#CARPCategory:English nouns with irregular plurals#CARPCategory:English indeclinable nouns#CARPCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CARPCategory:Pages with entries#CARPCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CARP

2. Any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae.

   Hypernyms: fish < vertebrate < animal < organism < creatureCategory:English links with manual fragments#CARP

   Hyponyms: Asian carp, bighead carp, black carp, carp (narrow sense), carp bream, common carp, crucian carp, flying carp, German carp, grass carp, Indian carp, invasive carp, Japanese crucian carp, killifish, koi, koi carp, leather carp, mirror carp, mud carp, Prussian carp, river carp, sabre carp, silver carp, toothcarp

   • 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter VIII, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, pages 161–162:

     The Carp is a ſtately, a good, and a ſubtle fiſh, a fiſh that hath not (as it is ſaid) been long in England, but ſaid to be by one Mr. Maſcall (a Gentleman then living at Plumſted in Suſſex) brought into this Nation: […] Carps and Loches are obſerved to breed ſeveral months in one year, vvhich moſt other fiſh do not, and it is the rather believed, becauſe you ſhall ſcarce or never take a Male Carp vvithout a Melt, or a Female vvithout a Roe or Spavvn; […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   • 1988, “Mayhem Maybe”, in Ian Anderson (music), 20 Years of Jethro Tull, performed by Jethro Tull:

     Like scaly carp and feathered swan
     To nature's world we do belong.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   • 2022 June 22, Patti Wetli, “Introducing Copi, the Fish Formerly Known as Asian Carp”, in WTTW‎:

     Illinois took the initiative in renaming the Asian carp given the state’s position as a sort of “last stand” against the carp entering the Great Lakes.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   • 2023 May 18, David McElhenney, “13 of Japan’s best castles”, in CNN‎:

     Matsumoto Castle exhibits the architecture of both war and peace, from its steep wooden stairs, hidden inner levels and archer’s perches to the moon-viewing room added in 1630, which also offers a vantage point for viewing the brocaded carps and ducks residing in the castle moat.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   1. (often specifically) The common carp, Cyprinus carpio.

      Hypernyms: carp (broad sense) < fish < vertebrate < animal < organism < creatureCategory:English links with manual fragments#CARP

      Coordinate terms: Asian carp, bighead carp, black carp, carp bream, crucian carp, flying carp, German carp, grass carp, Indian carp, invasive carp, Japanese crucian carp, killifish, koi, koi carp, leather carp, mirror carp, mud carp, Prussian carp, river carp, sabre carp, silver carp, toothcarp

Verb

carp (third-person singular simple present carps, present participle carping, simple past and past participle carped)Category:English lemmas#CARPCategory:English verbs#CARPCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CARPCategory:Pages with entries#CARPCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CARP

1. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CARP)
   1. To criticize or complain about a fault, especially for frivolous or petty reasons; to cavil. [(often) with at]
      • 1561 May 16 (Gregorian calendar), Ihon Caluin [i.e., John Calvin], “That there is Taught in the Scriptures One Essence of God from the Very Creation, which Essence Conteineth in It Thre Persons”, in [Thomas Norton], transl., The Institution of Christian Religion, […], London: […] Reinolde [i.e., Reginald?] Wolfe & Richarde Harison, →OCLC, 1st book, folio 34, recto:

        Here agayne Seruetto carpeth, yͭ God did beare the perſon of an Angel. As thoughe the Prophete did not confirme that whiche Moſes had ſaied: why doeſt thou aſke me of my name?

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • c. 1580s (date written), C[hristoper] M[arlowe], “Elegia. 15. Ad inuidos, qaod fama poetarum sit perennis.”, in Ouids Elegies: Three Bookes. […], Middlebourgh [i.e., London: […] Thomas Cotes?], published c. 1640, →OCLC, signature [B6], verso:

        Enuie vvhy carpeſt thou my time is ſpent ſo ill, / And termſt my vvorkes fruites of an idle quill.

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1592 January 6 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “To the Right Worthy and Noble Knight Sir Walter Raleigh, […]”, in Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, published 1595, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:

        [W]ith your good countenance protect against the malice of euill mouthes, vvhich are alvvaies vvide open to carpe at and miſconstrue my ſimple meaning.

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “The Eighth Sermon. S. Matth[ew] 7. 1.”, in Several Sermons against Evil-Speaking, London: […] Brabazon Aylmer, […], published 1678, →OCLC, pages 58–59:

        [I]f vve ſhould never cenſure vvithout great Reaſon or neceſſity, hovv ſeldom ſhould vve do it? […] [D]o vve not eagerly ſearch after, and greedily embrace all occaſions to do it? Is it not a pleaſant entertainment to us, to be carping and cavelling at any Body vve meet, at any thing vve ſee done?

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1785 April 21 (date written), Robert Burns, “To the Same [Epistle to J[ohn] L[aprai]k, an Old Scottish Bard]”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 95:

        My vvorthy friend, ne'er grudge an' carp, / Tho' Fortune uſe you hard an' ſharp; / Come, kittle up your moorland harp / VVi' gleeſome touch!

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1879, Matthew Arnold, “Falkland”, in Mixed Essays, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 207:

        [Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of] Clarendon's touch, where in his memoirs he speaks of Falkland, is simpler than in the History. But we will not carp at this great writer and faithful friend.

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   2. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#CARP) To speak, to talk; also, to talk about a subject in speech or writing.
   3. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#CARP) To talk much but to little purpose; to chatter, to prattle.

      Synonyms: blabber, prate; see also Thesaurus:prattle

      • 1521–1522, John Skelton, “Here after Followeth a Litel Boke Called Colyn Cloute, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 332, lines 548–552:

        And some of them barke, / Clatter and carpe / Of that heresy arte / Called Wicleuista, / The deuelysshe dogmatista; […]

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1557 August 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; Thomas Wyatt; et al.], “A Praise of Maistresse R.”, in Songes and Sonettes, London: […] Richard Tottel, →OCLC, folio 84, verso:

        And therwithall came curiouſneſſe and carped out of frame. / The audience laught to heare the ſtrife as they beheld the ſame.

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1825, T[homas] Doubleday, Babington. A Tragedy, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 54:

        Psha! thou carpest and carpest, and yet tell'st nought; in a word, What say'st thou to him?

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

   4. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#CARP) Of a bird: to sing; of a person (such as a minstrel): to sing or recite.
      • a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Against a Comely Coystrowne, that Curyowsly Chawntyd, and Curryshly Cowntred, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 15, lines 12–14:

        Hys hart is to hy to haue any hap; / But for in his gamut carp that he can, / Lo, Jak wold be a jentylman!

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1802, “The Lochmaben Harper”, in Walter Scott, editor, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border: […], volume I, Kelso, Roxburghshire: […] James Ballantyne, for T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, […]; and sold by Manners and Miller, and A[rchibald] Constable, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Historical Ballads), page 67:

        Then aye he harped, and aye he carped, / Till a' the Lordlings footed the floor; / But an' the music was sae sweet, / The groom had nae mind o' the stable door.

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#CARP, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#CARP)
   1. To say or tell (something).
   2. To find fault with (someone or something); to censure, to criticize.

      Synonyms: reprehend, reprove, take exception

      • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], “Grave Speeches, and Wittie Apothegmes of Woorthie Personages of This Realme in Former Times”, in Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 177:

        Albeit I doe knovve they [the speeches] vvill lie open to the cenſure of the youth of our time, vvho for the moſt part, are ſo over-gulled vvith ſelf-liking, that they are more then giddy in admiring themſelves, and carping vvhatſoever hath beene done or ſaide heeretofore, Nevertheleſſe I hope that all are not of one humour, and doubt not, but that there is diverſitie of taſtes, as vvas among Horaces gueſts; […]

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

      • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 104:

        [W]hen I ſpoke, / My honeſt homely vvords vvere carp'd, and cenſur'd, / For vvant of Courtly ſtile: […]

        Category:English terms with quotations#CARP

Noun

carp (plural carps)Category:English lemmas#CARPCategory:English nouns#CARPCategory:English countable nouns#CARPCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CARPCategory:Pages with entries#CARPCategory:Pages with 4 entries#CARP

1. An instance of, or speech, complaining or criticizing about a fault, especially for frivolous or petty reasons; a cavil.

Related terms

• carpià

Declension

Hyponyms

• byrbysgod (“crucian carps”)