1. The art of cutting, framing, and joining timber, as in the construction of buildings.
2. An assemblage of pieces of timber connected by being framed together, as the pieces of a roof, floor, etc.; work done by a carpenter.
Carp"er (?), n. One who carps; a caviler. Shak.
Car"pet (kńr"p&ebreve;t), n. [OF. carpite rug, soft of cloth, F. carpette coarse packing cloth, rug (cf. It. carpita rug, blanket), LL. carpeta, carpita, woolly cloths, fr. L. carpere to pluck, to card (wool); cf. Gr. karpo`s fruit, E. Harvest.] 1. A heavy woven or felted fabric, usually of wool, but also of cotton, hemp, straw, etc.; esp. a floor covering made in breadths to be sewed together and nailed to the floor, as distinguished from a rug or mat; originally, also, a wrought cover for tables.
Tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and coverlets.
T. Fuller.
2. A smooth soft covering resembling or suggesting a carpet. "The grassy carpet of this plain." Shak.
Carpet beetle or Carpet bug (Zo÷l.), a small beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariŠ), which, in the larval state, does great damage to carpets and other woolen goods; -- also called buffalo bug. -- Carpet knight. (a) A knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and has not known the hardships of the field; a hero of the drawing room; an effeminate person. Shak. (b) One made a knight, for some other than military distinction or service. -- Carpet moth (Zo÷l.), the larva of an insect which feeds on carpets and other woolen goods. There are several kinds. Some are the larvŠ of species of Tinea (as T. tapetzella); others of beetles, esp. Anthrenus. -- Carpet snake (Zo÷l.), an Australian snake. See Diamond snake, under Diamond. -- Carpet sweeper, an apparatus or device for sweeping carpets. -- To be on the carpet, to be under consideration; to be the subject of deliberation; to be in sight; -- an expression derived from the use of carpets as table cover. -- Brussels carpet. See under Brussels.
Car"pet, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Carpeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Carpeting.] To cover with, or as with, a carpet; to spread with carpets; to furnish with a carpet or carpets.
Carpeted temples in fashionable squares.
E. Everett.
Car"pet*bag` (?), n. A portable bag for travelers; -- so called because originally made of carpet.
Car"pet*bag`ger (?), n. An adventurer; -- a term of contempt for a Northern man seeking private gain or political advancement in the southern part of the United States after the Civil War (1865). [U. S.]
Car"pet*ing, n. 1. The act of covering with carpets.