to carry well

1 4.9

A voice or sound that can be heard clearly at a distance

phrasal verb
/ˈkæri wɛl/

: proyectar bien

Sound carries well over water, especially on a day like this.
Sound carries well

Examples

Hunt's pure voice carried well on the still air.

Blog text (3)
Her voice always carries well during presentations, making it easy for everyone to hear her.
Outside noises did not carry well into this sleeping chamber: an asset? Until now.

Fiction book (1993)
"Well, Jews!" he boomed, and his voice carried well in the still, cold air.

Fiction book (1991)
Sarcasm, however, doesn't carry well—especially when I have those days where it's like razor blades followed by a salt treatment.

Blog text (5)
The singer's powerful voice carries well in large concert halls, reaching every corner of the venue.
In the open field, laughter carries well across the distance, bringing joy to everyone nearby.

Antonyms

to muffle

64 5.8

To make a sound or feeling quieter so it is less noticeable

to dampen

16 4.4

Make something less strong or noticeable, for example sound and feeling

How Far

to project

27 4.1

to carry well

1 4.9

to resonate

26 5.1

Surface Forms

carry well infinitive

carried well past

carried well past participle

carrying well present participle

carries well third person singular

Morphology

carry + well

The meaning 'to be easily heard over a distance' is directly built from 'carry' in the sense 'transmit/project (sound)' plus the adverb 'well' meaning 'effectively' or 'to a good degree.' This verb+adverb compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically natural, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrase carry well comes from the image of a voice or sound being carried across a room or by the wind. Here carry means to move and well means 'far' or 'clearly', so the phrase now means a sound that can easily be heard at a distance.