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Glite Dictionary
to cart off

to cart off

12 5.9
To take someone or something away by vehicle, often quickly and without care
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɑrt ɔf/
  • Informal
: llevarse
  • Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti is carted off the field after an apparent left knee injury against Indiana at Beaver Stadium.

I mean some of those who were carted off the slaves who were sold by West African kings to European traders and taken off to the to the Caribbean.

Examples

  • Fitzgerald was injured on the play and was carted off.

    Blog text (15)

  • When that injury happened during the game, everybody was concerned as he was being carted off," Garrett said.

    Blog text (13)

  • You get carted off to jail.

    Heist (2015)

  • I seriously got tired of seeing our players getting carted off the field in past years.

    Blog text (34)

  • Later, I learned that many of our Japanese friends had been carted off to camps.

    Blog text (11)

  • Star linebacker Michael Mauti was carted off in the first quarter after hurting his left knee.

    Blog text (14)

  • Nicholas Romey was carted off to the local jail, where he was "reported to have made threats to get even for the shooting of his wife."

    Academic text (2004)

  • In a short time, I was hoisted by a newly arrived crane onto an accompanying flatbed truck and carted off.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • A grave-digging detail was appointed the task of carting off frozen bodies and digging shallow graves for them in the frozen earth.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • After the accident, the injured player was carted off the field on a stretcher.

Synonyms

to carry off
vsto cart off
24 4.4

To take a person to another place or to move someone's feelings suddenly

focuses on physical removal by vehicle and not emotional change
to haul away
vsto cart off
20 3.4

To take away large or heavy things using a vehicle

does the same removal but highlights lack of ceremony or reluctance
to haul off
vsto cart off
8 4.1

To take something away using a truck or van

does this but usually involves little ceremony or reluctance
to cart away
vsto cart off
  • Informal
6 4.1

To take something away in a vehicle, often because it is large or unwanted

takes things by vehicle and stresses little ceremony or reluctance
to bundle off
vsto cart off
  • Informal
1 7.7

To send someone away quickly without much ceremony

adds that removal typically uses a vehicle and may be reluctant
to bear off
vsto cart off
1 7.0

To carry someone or something away from a place to another

specifies transport by vehicle and often with little ceremony or reluctance

Antonyms

to bring back
∞ 1.7

Return someone or something to the place they came from

How Abrupt

to cart off
  • Informal
12 5.9
to drag
938 2.0
to bundle off
  • Informal
1 7.7
to take away
∞ 2.3

Surface Forms

cart off infinitive
carted off past
carted off past participle
carting off present participle
carts off third person singular

Morphology

cart + off

The verb 'cart' (to haul or lug) combined with the particle 'off' (away) yields a clear compositional meaning of taking something away by vehicle or force; a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer this. While there may be a slight pragmatic nuance of removing items with little ceremony, the core sense 'to take away' follows standard verb + particle patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent.

Etymology

Cart off comes from the simple image of loading something onto a cart and moving it off (away) to be carried on wheels. So, to cart off something means 'to take away' by vehicle, often quickly and without much fuss.