Word.ws English Dictionary

carries the can

carries the can is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 carries the can

What is carries the can the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Carries the can is the third-person singular simple present indicative of carry the can.

Words near carries the can in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carries 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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