Word.ws English Dictionary

on the carpet

on the carpet prepositional phrase: under consideration; subject to discussion or deliberation.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Under consideration; subject to discussion or deliberation.
    • That same evening the treaty of marriage was brought upon the carpet, and by means of Mr. Pickle and the lieutenant settled to the satisfaction of all parties, without the intervention of lawyers […].1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 7, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
    • Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff’s neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being...1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC
  2. Being reprimanded or carpeted.
    • Whenever a policeman made a mistake he was either brought on the carpet before the Mayor or rebuked by the Magistrate.1915 January 4, “Ellison Must Go, Police Now Think”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 Sep 2008, page 18
    • But long, long ago an enthusiastic reporter called it a "fairy palace," and the office building on the west side was once a church. Hence, in North British phraseology, to "gang tae the Kirk" meant to be had up on the carpet.1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3

Forms of on the carpet

alternative formupon the carpet

Questions about on the carpet

What does on the carpet mean?
On the carpet means under consideration; subject to discussion or deliberation.
What part of speech is on the carpet?
On the carpet is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the carpet in the dictionary

  1. on the burst
  2. on the button
  3. on the cadge
  4. on the canvas
  5. on the cards
  6. on the carpet
  7. on the case
  8. on the cheap
  9. on the clock
  10. on the club
  11. on the come

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the carpet (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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