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material for carpets.
carpets in general.
a heavy fabric, commonly of wool or nylon, for covering floors.
a covering of this material.
any relatively soft surface or covering like a carpet:
They walked on the carpet of grass.
any of a number of airborne electronic devices for jamming radar.
a system of such devices.
to cover or furnish with or as with a carpet.
Chiefly British. to reprimand.
on the carpet,

before an authority or superior for an accounting of one’s actions or a reprimand:
He was called on the carpet again for his carelessness.
Chiefly British. under consideration or discussion.

Contemporary Examples

The village houses are done up in pale gray and mauve and preside over lawns so neat and green they look like carpeting.
The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York Town E. Jean Carroll April 18, 2014

The hair was shorn after the gassings, then efficiently dried in the crematoria so it could be industrially spun into carpeting.
My Visit To Hell Christopher Buckley January 29, 2009

The carpeting is worn, the furniture is falling apart, and the electricity is out for most of the day.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan Umar Farooq December 28, 2014

Historical Examples

To-day the fiat has gone forth, and we are already deep in consultation over paper and paint, chintz, and carpeting.
An Isle in the Water Katharine Tynan

It is calculated that one of these balls will weave about a yard of carpeting.
Home Life in Colonial Days Alice Morse Earle

The carpeting near the rear passenger seats seemed to blur for an instant.
Novice James H. Schmitz

He moved up behind her, his footsteps muffled by the carpeting.
Operation Haystack Frank Patrick Herbert

It was as though the solid planks heaved amain, causing the carpeting to rise and fall in billows.
Fibble, D. D. Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb

Her skirts must indeed have brushed the carpeting of those steps scores of times.
A Laodicean Thomas Hardy

The tub must stand all the time in a cool cellar, and be covered well with an old blanket, carpeting, or something of the sort.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches Eliza Leslie

noun
carpet material or carpets in general
noun

a heavy fabric for covering floors
(as modifier): a carpet sale

a covering like a carpet: a carpet of leaves
(informal) on the carpet

before authority to be reproved for misconduct or error
under consideration

verb (transitive) -pets, -peting, -peted
to cover with or as if with a carpet
(informal) to reprimand
n.

1758, verbal noun from carpet (v.).
n.

late 13c., “coarse cloth;” mid-14c., “tablecloth, bedspread;” from Old French carpite “heavy decorated cloth, carpet,” from Medieval Latin or Old Italian carpita “thick woolen cloth,” probably from Latin carpere “to card, pluck,” probably so called because it was made from unraveled, shreded, “plucked” fabric; from PIE *kerp- “to gather, pluck, harvest” (see harvest (n.)). Meaning shifted 15c. to floor coverings.

From 16c.-19c. as an adjective often with a tinge of contempt, when used of men (e.g. carpet-knight, 1570s) by association with luxury, ladies’ boudoirs, and drawing rooms. On the carpet “summoned for reprimand” is 1900, U.S. colloquial (but cf. carpet (v.) “call (someone) to be reprimanded,” 1823, British servants’ slang). To sweep or push something under the carpet in the figurative sense is first recorded 1953.
v.

“to cover with a carpet,” 1620s, from carpet (n.). Meaning “call to reprimand” is from 1840. Related: Carpeted; carpeting.

Related Terms

call someone on the carpet, on the carpet, red carpet, roll out the red carpet
see:

call on the carpet
red carpet

also see under:
rug