To cart something means to carry or transport it, often with effort. When you help your family bring groceries from the car, you might cart heavy bags into the kitchen. A farmer might cart hay from the field to the barn.

For thousands of years, people used carts pulled by horses, donkeys, or oxen to transport goods. Today, you still see carts everywhere: shopping carts at the grocery store, golf carts on a course, or carts that flight attendants push down airplane aisles.

When something is heavy or awkward to move, people often say they have to cart it around. If you're carrying your school backpack, instrument case, and lunch bag all at once, you might complain about having to cart everything from class to class. The word suggests the load takes real physical effort to move.

As a noun, a cart is a small vehicle with wheels used for carrying things.

You might also hear the expression put the cart before the horse, which means doing things in the wrong order. If you start writing your book report before reading the book, you're putting the cart before the horse.