career

1 of 2

noun

ca·​reer kə-ˈrir 

1

: a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling

a career in medicine

—often used before another noun

a career diplomat

2

: a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life

Washington's career as a soldier

3

a

: speed in a course

—used especially in the phrases in full career or at full career

The trumpets sounded, and the knights charged each other in full career.

—Sir Walter Scott

b

: course, passage

the sun's career across the sky

4

: encounter, charge

career

2 of 2

verb

careered; careering; careers

intransitive verb

: to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner

a car careered off the road

Did you know?

In medieval tournaments, jousting required knights to ride at full speed in short bursts, and the noun career (coming from Middle French carriere) was used to refer to such gallops as well as to the courses that knights rode. The related verb came to mean "to go at top speed." The familiar career, referring to one's job, originated from these uses.

Did you know?

Careen and Career

Some people might be confused by the warning to not confuse careen and career, because the most common sense of career ("a profession") is not much like any of the meanings of careen. But when employed as a verb, career does have some semantic overlap with careen; both words may be used to mean "to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner." A car, for instance, may either careen or career. Some usage guides hold, however, that the car is only careening if there is side-to-side motion, as careen has other meanings related to movement, among which is "to sway from side to side."

Synonyms

Verb

• barrel
• belt
• blast
• blaze
• blow
• bolt
• bomb [slang]
• bowl
• breeze
• bundle
• bustle
• buzz
• cannonball
• careen
• chase
• course
• crack (on)
• dash
• drive
• fly
• hare
• hasten
• hie
• highball
• hotfoot (it)
• hump
• hurl
• hurry
• hurtle
• hustle
• jet
• jump
• motor
• nip
• pelt
• race
• ram
• rip
• rocket
• run
• rush
• rustle
• scoot
• scurry
• scuttle
• shoot
• speed
• step
• tear
• travel
• trot
• whirl
• whisk
• zip
• zoom

Examples of career in a Sentence

Noun

She hopes to pursue a career in medicine.

My career as a waitress lasted one day.

During his long career in advertising he won numerous awards and honors.

Verb

she careered off to the class she'd almost forgotten

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Lake, a former TV news anchor, launched a political career as a Republican Trump loyalist just after the president-elect's first term in the White House. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024

Well, multi-hyphenate artist Cole Escola plays Mary Todd Lincoln as an acerbic alcoholic who cares way more about achieving a career as a cabaret singer than whether her husband (Conrad Ricamora) wins the ongoing Civil War. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 11 Dec. 2024

Verb

The second the final whistle blew, all of Georgia’s subs and staff careered onto the pitch. —Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 9 July 2024

Mental health has become one of the most important issues on college campuses throughout the nation, with college students facing challenges, ranging from academic pressures to career uncertainty to social and financial stressors. —Marybeth Gasman, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan carriera street, from Medieval Latin carraria road for vehicles, from Latin carrus car

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1534, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

1647, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing career

• at full career
• career criminal
• career ladder
• career move
• in full career

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Kids Definition

career

1 of 2 noun

ca·​reer kə-ˈri(ə)r 

1

a

: course entry 1 sense 1, progress

b

: full speed or activity

in full career

2

: a course of continued progress or activity

3

: a profession followed as a permanent occupation

career

2 of 2 verb

: to go at top speed

a car careered off the road