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Glite Dictionary
carriage return

carriage return

1 7.0
A key or action that moves the cursor to the start of a new line
  • noun
  • /ˈkɛrɪdʒ rɪˈtɜrn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : retorno de carro
  • Each line of the code ends with a carriage return, which tells the program to move to the next line.

Examples

  • When typing a document, you can create a new line by pressing the carriage return key on the keyboard.

  • Each NMEA report is a text packet, or sentence, that begins with a dollar sign and ends with a carriage return and line feed.

    Blog text (1)

  • Well, when it's done parsing this hex address, it sees the carriage return, which I'll type right now.

  • To format the text properly, remember to insert a carriage return after each paragraph.

Synonyms

return
vscarriage return
10 3.3

A key you press to move to a new line

is the control character that starts a new line not a physical button
return key
vscarriage return
1 2.1

A key on a keyboard that moves the cursor to a new line or starts a new command

is the control character that moves cursor to the line start not a button

Surface Forms

carriage return singular
carriage returns plural

Morphology

carriage + return

The phrase literally describes the 'return' (going back) of the 'carriage' (the movable print/cursor mechanism), so the sense of moving to the line start is derivable from the parts. However, it is domain-specific (typewriter/printer terminology) and modern learners may not automatically map that physical action to the computer control character meaning without some background, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

The term carriage return comes from old typewriters and printers, where the moving part called the carriage was pushed back to the left as a return to the 'start of the line'. So today carriage return means pressing a key to begin a new line or move the cursor to the start of a line.