tote

Word family

• totable
  adjectiveC1
• toter
  nounC1
• totebag
  nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe moving something from one place to another, but they differ in effort, formality, and register. 'Carry' is the most neutral and general — anyone carries a bag, a child, or a box without implying difficulty. 'Tote' adds a sense of effort or inconvenience; you tote something bulky or heavy, often over a short-to-medium distance by hand. 'Lug' is more informal and suggests dragging or struggling with weight ('He lugged the suitcase up three flights of stairs'). 'Haul' implies moving heavy loads over a distance, sometimes with mechanical help ('They hauled the furniture into the moving truck'). 'Schlep' (informal, from Yiddish) adds an emotional tone of reluctance or annoyance ('I had to schlep all my gear across campus'). In everyday use, tote sits between carry and lug — less neutral than carry, less dramatic than lug.

Common collocations

Etymology

The verb 'tote' first appeared in 17th-century American English, probably borrowed from a West or Central African language — possibly from Kikongo 'tota' (to pick up) or a related Bantu source. It spread as a colloquial word for carrying heavy loads. The noun 'tote bag' dates from the early 20th century, formed from the verb. The betting sense ('the Tote') has an unrelated origin: it is short for 'totalizator' or 'totalisator', a machine that calculates pooled bets, first used in British racing in the early 1900s.