to carry on
Preserved but no longer current.
(1) To continue an activity from the point already reached, particularly in military parlance. (2) To make a scene, lose one's temper — "he carried on something dreadful.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
Tatoeba sentence #290860 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to carry on” mean?
(1) To continue an activity from the point already reached, particularly in military parlance. (2) To make a scene, lose one's temper — "he carried on something dreadful.
Is “to carry on” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.