carrot: Meaning and Definition of

car•rot

1. a plant, Daucus carota, of the parsley family, having pinnately decompound leaves and umbels of small white or yellow flowers, in its wild form a widespread, familiar weed, and in cultivation valued for its edible root.
2. the nutritious, orange to yellow root of this plant, eaten raw or cooked.
3. something hoped for or promised as a lure or incentive:Cf. stick (def. 8). To boost productivity, leaders hinted at the carrot of subsidized housing for the workers.

1. to treat (furs) with mercuric nitrate preparatory to felting.