carpent

English

Etymology

Back-formation from carpenter.

Verb

carpent (third-person singular simple present carpents, present participle carpenting, simple past and past participle carpented)

1. (nonstandard, rare) To do carpentry, or work on (something) as a carpenter.

   Synonym: carpenter

   • 1978, DeKalb Literary Arts Journal, volumes 14-16, page 73:

     But no, he looked out at us long. Then shut the Book and strode down the aisle past every half-filled pew. The ones you-know-who carpented – certainly not me. Cracking, they are. Like l told him they would.

   • 1998, Monica F. Cohen, Professional Domesticity in the Victorian Novel: Women, Work and Home, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 21:

     The next sentence, however, clarifies what Harville's employment actually is: He drew, he varnished, he carpented, he glued; he made toys for the children, he fashioned new netting-needles and pins with improvements; ...

   • 2006, Tobias Hill, Nocturne in Chrome & Sunset Yellow:

     The hallway was unlit and sour with the odour of linoleum, and the man who took the work came early the next day, refused the food we offered, ate his own, and worked until the light was gone outside, carpenting the lengths of wood with skill ...

Anagrams

• precant

Latin

Verb

carpent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of carpō