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Glite Dictionary
to cart off

to cart off

4 5.9
To take someone or something away by vehicle, often quickly and without care
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɑrt ɔf/
  • Informal
translation icon : 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 haul away
vsto cart off
8 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
5 4.1

To take something away using a truck or van

does this but usually involves little ceremony or reluctance
to carry off
vsto cart off
4 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 cart away
vsto cart off
  • Informal
1 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 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
to bundle off
vsto cart off
  • Informal
7.7

To send someone away quickly without much ceremony

adds that removal typically uses a vehicle and may be reluctant

Antonyms

to bring back
436 1.7

Return someone or something to the place they came from

How Abrupt

to cart off
  • Informal
4 5.9
to drag
704 2.0
to bundle off
  • Informal
7.7
to take away
795 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.