Dictionary

carry off en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (transitive) To transport away.
   • I need a truck to carry off all this furniture.
2. (transitive) To steal or kidnap
   • Bandits carried off most of the money.
   • In spite of the importance of this route it remained until a few years ago very insecure. Overhung almost its entire length by the inaccessible fastnesses of Lololand, the passing caravans dared journey only with convoy, and even then were frequently overwhelmed by raiders from the hills, who carried off both trader and goods into the mountains, the former to lifelong servitude. 1913, Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, A Wayfarer in China:
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To act convincingly; to succeed at giving the impression of (e.g.) knowledge, confidence, or familiarity.
   • He is carrying off his act, convincing them he was a nuclear scientist.
   • The actress carried off a difficult performance with dash.
   • Given my general shape I'd look pretty ridiculous in the sort of outfit which, to carry it off, needs rather more height and less bulk than I have. 2022, Chris Patten, The Hong Kong Diaries, Penguin UK, →ISBN:
4. (transitive) To achieve (something); to succeed at (something).
   • We didn't think they'd finish by the deadline, but they carried it off.
   • Despite a slow start in the race, he carried it off in the end.
5. (transitive) To cause the death of.
   • The bitterest loss was of her eldest daughter, carried off by malaria at 40 with a baby still inside her. 2016 March 31, Celia W. Dugger, “Preventable Disease Blinds Poor in Third World”, in The New York Times:
   • I was now entering on my fifteenth year, when the worſt of ills befell me in the loſs of my tender fond parents, who were both carried off by the smallpox, within a few days of each other; […]. 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
   • Malaria carried off many people.
6. (transitive) To win (a prize, etc.).
   • After a closely-fought match, Oxford carried off the trophy.

Forms

Coordinates

carry out

Synonyms

pull off

Translations (51)

pl ukraść (to steal or kidnap) · la dēgerō (to transport away) · fr transporter (to transport away) · pl stworzyć przekonujące pozory (to act convincingly) · pl zwędzić (to steal or kidnap) · bg отнеса (to cause death) · bg справя се (to act convincingly) · pl poradzić sobie (to achieve, to pull off) · la raptō (to steal or kidnap) · bg представя обедително (to act convincingly) · pl udźwignąć (to achieve, to pull off) · pl zgarniać (to steal or kidnap) · pl odtransportować (to transport away) · pl wywozić (to transport away) · bg отмъквам (to steal or kidnap) · pl porwać (to steal or kidnap) · pl wpędzać do grobu (to cause death) · pl wygrać (to win a prize) · fr expédier (to transport away) · bg завлека (to transport away) · bg завлека (to steal or kidnap) · izh vimpata (to steal or kidnap) · bg отмъкна (to transport away) · bg завличам (to steal or kidnap) · ota گوتورمك (to transport away) · pl stwarzać przekonujące pozory (to act convincingly) · pl zabierać (to transport away) · izh vimpata (to transport away) · pl wygrywać (to win a prize) · pl zabrać (to transport away) · pl wywieźć (to transport away) · pl kraść (to steal or kidnap) · bg справям се (to act convincingly) · pl porywać (to steal or kidnap) · fr déplacer (to transport away) · la auferō (to transport away) · ga fuadaigh (to steal or kidnap) · bg представям обедително (to act convincingly) · pl zdobyć (to win a prize) · pl radzić sobie (to achieve, to pull off) · bg отмъквам (to transport away) · pl zdobywać (to win a prize) · pl odtransportowywać (to transport away) · bg отмъкна (to steal or kidnap) · pl wpędzić do grobu (to cause death) · sa हरति (to transport away) · bg завличам (to transport away) · mi whakariua (to transport away) · bg отнасям (to cause death) · pl zgarnąć (to steal or kidnap) · egy i-TA-A-D51:D40 (to steal or kidnap)