carry the can

1. 1.

   accept the unpleasant consequences of one's actions

   Synonymsface the music

   Broaderbear

   United Kingdom

Questions about carry the can

What does carry the can mean?

carry the can means "accept the unpleasant consequences of one's actions".

What is another word for carry the can?

Close synonyms include face the music. 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 the can a common word?

carry the can is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.