fetch and carry
To serve obsequiouslyTo serve obsequiously.
Translations
1 languagesMeaning
3 senses(idiomatic, intransitive)To serve obsequiously.
(dated, idiomatic, intransitive)To carry gossip, news, etc., from one person to another; to bear tales, to gossip.
(dated, idiomatic, transitive)To carry or convey (gossip, news, etc.) from one person to another; to bear (tales).
Origin
From fetch + and + carry, originally a reference to a trained dog fetching and conveying aFrom fetch + and + carry, originally a reference to a trained dog fetching and conveying an object back to its master: see, for example, William Shakespeare’s play The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act III, scene i (spelling modernized): “She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel, […] She can fetch and carry: why a horse can do no more; nay, a horse cannot fetch, but only carry, therefore is she better than a jade.”
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
fetches and carries, fetching and carrying, fetched and carried, fetched and carriedirregular
| Base form | fetch and carry · to fetch and carry |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | fetches and carries |
| Present participle | fetching and carrying |
| Past simple | fetched and carried |
| Past participle | fetched and carried |
Tenses
fetch and carry · fetched and carried · will fetch and carry · have fetched and carriedPoint at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.
Synonyms
14 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.