carry on

1. 1.

   direct the course of; manage or control

   “You cannot conduct business like this”

   Synonymsconductdeal

   Broadermanage

   Narrowerracketeer
2. 2.

   keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last

   “preserve the peace in the family”

   “continue the family tradition”

   “Carry on the old traditions”

   Synonymscontinueupholdbear onpreserve

   Broaderkeep

   Narrowerresumepersevereperpetuateprolongmummify
3. 3.

   continue talking

   “`I know it's hard', he continued, `but there is no choice'”

   “carry on--pretend we are not in the room”

   Synonymscontinuego onproceed

   Broadertalk

   Narrowersegueramble on
4. 4.

   misbehave badly; act in a silly or improper way

   “The children acted up when they were not bored”

   Synonymsact up

   Broadermisbehave

Questions about carry on

What does carry on mean?

carry on means "direct the course of; manage or control". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for carry on?

Close synonyms include conduct, deal, continue, uphold, bear on. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is carry on a common word?

carry on is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.