English Explanatory Dictionary

fetch and carry

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To serve obsequiously.
  2. To carry gossip, news, etc., from one person to another; to bear tales, to gossip.
  3. To carry or convey (gossip, news, etc.) from one person to another; to bear (tales).

Pronunciation

/ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkæɹi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fetch and carry.wav /ˌfɛt͡ʃ n̩ ˈkɛɹi/

Word forms

fetch and carry fetches and carries fetching and carrying fetched and carried

Etymology

From 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.”

Synonyms

blab cag chelp clepe dish dish the dirt fetch and carry gossip jaunder labrish shoot the shit talk talk out of turn tattle tell tales out of school tittle-tattle

Related words

wait on someone hand and foot

Derived words

fetch-and-carry
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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