Carpet \Car"pet\ (k[aum]r"p[e^]t), n. [OF. carpite rug, soft of cloth, F. carpette coarse packing cloth, rug (cf. It. carpita rug, blanket), LL. carpeta, carpita, woolly cloths, fr. L. carpere to pluck, to card (wool); cf. Gr. karpo`s fruit, E. Harvest.]

1. A heavy woven or felted fabric, usually of wool, but also of cotton, hemp, straw, etc.; esp. a floor covering made in breadths to be sewed together and nailed to the floor, as distinguished from a rug or mat; originally, also, a wrought cover for tables.

Tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and coverlets. --T. Fuller.

2. A smooth soft covering resembling or suggesting a carpet. ``The grassy carpet of this plain.'' --Shak.

Carpet beetle or Carpet bug (Zo["o]l.), a small beetle (Anthrenus scrophulari[ae]), which, in the larval state, does great damage to carpets and other woolen goods; -- also called buffalo bug.

Carpet knight.
   (a) A knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and has not known the hardships of the field; a hero of the drawing room; an effeminate person. --Shak.
   (b) One made a knight, for some other than military distinction or service.

Carpet moth (Zo["o]l.), the larva of an insect which feeds on carpets and other woolen goods. There are several kinds. Some are the larv[ae] of species of Tinea (as T. tapetzella); others of beetles, esp. Anthrenus.

Carpet snake (Zo["o]l.), an Australian snake. See Diamond snake, under Diamond.

Carpet sweeper, an apparatus or device for sweeping carpets.

To be on the carpet, to be under consideration; to be the subject of deliberation; to be in sight; -- an expression derived from the use of carpets as table cover.

Brussels carpet. See under Brussels.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)