Definition of "caret"

caret¹

/ˈkæɹ.ɪt/

noun
plural carets
1. A mark ⟨ ‸ ⟩ used by writers and proofreaders to indicate that something is to be inserted at that point.
2. An exponentiation symbol or operator ⟨＾⟩.
3. (graphical user interface) An indicator, often a blinking line or bar and usually called a cursor, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place.
4. (nonstandard) A circumflex ⟨ ˆ ⟩.
5. (nonstandard) A háček ⟨ ˇ ⟩.
  Quotations
  […] the more conventional semivocalic j and the caret (ˇ) respectively.
  1944, Maro Beath Jones, “Inclusive Uniform Alphabet for Russian, Bulgarian, Serb-Croatian, Czech, Polish”, in Claremont Slavic Series, Claremont College, page 10
  The caret (ˇ), háček, is used over the following consonants: c, d, n, t, r, s, and z to indicate the soft sound. The caret (ˇ) is also used over the vowel e (See Pronunciation II, b, p, v).
  1948, Bohumil Emil Mikula, Progressive Czech (Bohemian) (Chicago: Czechoslovak National Council of America), 6
  In contemporary Czech, the “hook” or caret is no longer in use for lower-case t and d when the latter are palatal; instead, an apostrophe is used (t’, d’) This development is clearly connected with the practical difficulty encountered in printing a caret over letter stems that are too thin.
  1991, Michael Shapiro, The Sense of Change: Language as History, Indiana University Press, page 58

caret²

/kəˈɹɛt/

noun
plural carets
1. (archaic) A kind of turtle, the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata).