carp
verb/kɑːp/
/kɑːrp/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they carp | /kɑːp/ /kɑːrp/ |
| he / she / it carps | /kɑːps/ /kɑːrps/ |
| past simple carped | /kɑːpt/ /kɑːrpt/ |
| past participle carped | /kɑːpt/ /kɑːrpt/ |
| -ing form carping | /ˈkɑːpɪŋ/ /ˈkɑːrpɪŋ/ |
- to keep complaining about somebody/something in an annoying way
- I’ve had enough of him constantly carping and criticizing.
- carp (on) (at somebody) (about somebody/something) Lord, how you carp on, Lucy!
Word Originverb Middle English (in the sense ‘talk, chatter’): from Old Norse karpa ‘brag’; later influenced by Latin carpere ‘pluck at, slander’.Want to learn more?
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carp