carpenter

1 of 2

noun

car·​pen·​ter ˈkär-pən-tər 

ˈkär-pᵊm-tər

: a worker who builds or repairs wooden structures or their structural parts

carpenter

2 of 2

verb

carpentered; carpentering ˈkär-pən-t(ə-)riŋ 

intransitive verb

: to follow the trade of a carpenter

carpentered when he was young

transitive verb

1

: to make by or as if by carpentry

2

: to put together often in a mechanical manner

carpentered many television scripts

Examples of carpenter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Do a Marvel film and then become a carpenter with all your millions. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 18 Dec. 2024

Forty carpenters from French building company Le Bras Frères meticulously studied the 19th-century sketches to re-create the medieval wooden spire. —Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Dec. 2024

Verb

Noma’s dining room, by contrast, is meticulously carpentered together, from the peaked ceiling to the bare floor, out of sanded oak and Douglas fir. —Pete Wells, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2018

The drama is something that seems to be leaking from the very forms so elaborately carpentered to contain it. —Jesse Green, New York Times, 8 June 2017

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French carpenter, charpenter, from Latin carpentarius carriage maker, from carpentum carriage, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish carpat chariot, carr vehicle — more at car

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1815, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Phrases Containing carpenter

• carpenter ant
• carpenter bee

Kids Definition

carpenter

noun

car·​pen·​ter

ˈkär-pən-tər,

ˈkärp-ᵊm-tər

: a worker who builds or repairs wooden structures

carpenter verb