Word.ws English Dictionary

carried the can

carried the can is the simple past and past participle of carry the can.

Meaning of carry the can

Verb

carry the can (third-person singular simple present carries the can, present participle carrying the can, simple past and past participle carried the can)

  1. (Canada, UK, idiomatic) To take responsibility, especially in a challenging situation.
    • For Vajpayee, who is keen that he alone does not carry the can for his unwieldy alliance, it is a tough decision.1998 April 25, Arati R. Jerath, "18 partners hunt for one voice," Indian Express (Bombay) (retrieved 21 Oct 2008)
    Synonyms:
    take the rap

Questions about carried the can

What is carried the can the simple past and past participle of?
Carried the can is the simple past and past participle of carry the can.

Words near carried the can in the dictionary

  1. carried out one's bat
  2. carried over
  3. carried owls to Athens
  4. carried someone's water
  5. carried the ball
  6. carried the can
  7. carried the day
  8. carried the mail
  9. carried the mantle
  10. carried the message to Garcia
  11. carried the torch

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carried the can (page history and authors); carry the can (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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