Home US English carpenter

Definition of carpenter in English:

carpenter

Pronunciation /ˈkärpən(t)ər/ /ˈkɑrpən(t)ər/

See synonyms for carpenter

Translate carpenter into Spanish

noun

  • A person who makes and repairs wooden objects and structures.

    ‘Tom Searles worked as a carpenter repairing the inside of the wooden mills and stayed for seventeen years.’
    • ‘I once gave a contract to a local carpenter for some repairs on my house.’
    • ‘His estimated cost for repairs seemed high, so I hired a carpenter at about half the price.’
    • ‘You don't need to be a master carpenter, but some basic carpentry skills are required.’
    • ‘The skilled carpenters and joiners enjoyed a sense of solidarity that quickly turned to truculence if they felt slighted and led to constant collective difficulties with their employers.’
    • ‘I started life as an apprentice carpenter and joiner, and I always remember my first job application being turned down because my marks in chemistry were not high.’
    • ‘It was the third successive year that she had been hailed as the world's best on the sport's greatest stage, a far cry from her days as a carpenter and joiner.’
    • ‘If there is a single power tool that is universally accepted as a necessity by carpenters everywhere, it would be the circular saw.’
    • ‘He worked for many years with wood, both as a carpenter and doing fine wood-working.’
    • ‘This was built over a period of 40 days by a 300 strong force of labourers, carpenters, joiners and artists.’
    • ‘Apprenticeships available for youngsters include stonemasonry; bricklaying; carpenters and joiners and roof-slaters and tilers.’
    • ‘‘There is a huge shortage of carpenters and joiners in Scotland,’ he said.’
    • ‘She said the workmen, who residents thought were carpenters and joiners, have also been doing plumbing and electrical work.’
    • ‘Having finished his apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner, Don went to officer cadet school at Portsea, becoming a second lieutenant.’
    • ‘Ron left school at 14 to become a carpenter and joiner.’
    • ‘After serving with the Royal Corps of Signals in 1945, Mr Brock became an apprentice carpenter and joiner.’
    • ‘He was a carpenter and joiner by trade and served in the army during World War II.’
    • ‘Early unions followed the British model of craft-based associations among printers, tailors, cordwainers, cabinet-makers, shipwrights, carpenters, and stonemasons.’
    • ‘One house is constructed by professional carpenters; another by relatives.’
    • ‘Working with steel requires different tools and skills, so there is a big learning curve for carpenters.’
    woodworker, joiner, cabinetmaker
    View synonyms

transitive verb

[with object]usually be carpentered

  • 1Make by shaping wood.

    ‘the rails were carpentered very skillfully’
    • ‘Lysaght resurrected these boards and carpentered them into simple structures: a bridge, a wishing well, a coach and tree planters.’
    • ‘The wooden boxes were carpentered together, and even the fabricated metal pieces were made relatively roughly.’
    1. 1.1no object Do the work of a carpenter.
      ‘she carpenters and goes on archaeological digs’
      • ‘I've had a go at carpentering today and fixed the upstairs loo door that was very tight to close.’
      • ‘Larry left every day with his lunchbox to rejoin his mates on the construction sites, or carpentered for the neighbours.’
      • ‘The pigs use the harness-room as a headquarters where they study blacksmithing, carpentering and so on from books they find in the farmhouse.’
      • ‘He himself could carpenter, bank, farm and ranch.’
      • ‘Wood, if carefully chosen, carpentered, and prepared, makes an excellent support on which to paint.’

Origin

Middle English from Anglo-Norman French, from Old French carpentier, charpentier, from late Latin carpentarius (artifex) ‘carriage (maker)’, from carpentum ‘wagon’, of Gaulish origin; related to car.