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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.
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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
Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 16 Nov. 2024
But what John taught me was invaluable to my whole career: Take a song and go through the different keys to hear what my voice did in each key.
—Devon Ivie, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Marybeth Gasman, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
Through these efforts, the chapter has strengthened its role as a valuable resource for PR practitioners, advocating for professional standards and connecting members to career development opportunities.
—Deb Harvell, arkansasonline.com, 20 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for career 
Articles Related to career
Dictionary Entries Near career
Cite this Entry
“Career.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/career. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
career
1 of 2 noun
career
2 of 2 verb
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