carry off

verb

carried off; carrying off; carries off

transitive verb

1
: to cause the death of
the plague carried off thousands
2
: to perform or manage successfully : bring off
tried to look suave but couldn't carry it off

Examples of carry off in a Sentence

the con artist would never have been able to carry off his schemes if it were not for the greed of his eager victims pray that the pestilence does not carry off any more souls than it already has
Recent Examples on the Web Ter Stegen fell badly after jumping for a ball just before halftime and was visibly in pain as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. Reuters, 23 Sep. 2024 The bare-bones narrative often seems to drift rather than move forward with purpose, occasionally threatening to get carried off by the winds that hammer the island. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024 These early avians were about the size of a hawk and had strong enough feet to capture and carry off prey–possibly even small dinosaurs. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 9 Oct. 2024 For following a Pro-Palestinian protest at the Princess of Wales on Thursday opening night, there was a medical emergency at the Roy Thomson Hall premiere of Eden, with an attendee being carried off on a stretcher. Natalie Sitek, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for carry off 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'carry off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1640, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of carry off was circa 1640

Dictionary Entries Near carry off

Cite this Entry

“Carry off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carry%20off. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on carry off

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