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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."
Examples of careen in a Sentence
Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
The event comes as the government is careening toward a potential shutdown that could force some 2 million troops to work without pay if a spending bill doesn't pass Congress by midnight Wednesday.
—Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2025
The blame game Barring some type of last-minute reprieve, the federal government is careening toward a shutdown Tuesday night.
—Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
As their season careens to a close this week, with a 70-87 record going into Wednesday night, a last-place finish assured and the only record within reach being that for strikeouts in a season by the offense, contention seems as far away as it’s ever been.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for careen
Cite this Entry
“Careen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/careen. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
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