carousel

noun

car·​ou·​sel ˌker-ə-ˈsel 

ˌka-rə-,

also

-ˈzel  ˈker-ə-ˌsel 

ˈka-rə-

variants or less commonly carrousel

1

: a tournament or exhibition in which horsemen execute evolutions

2

a

: merry-go-round

b

: a circular conveyor

the luggage carousel at the airport

c

: a revolving case or tray used for storage or display

Examples of carousel in a Sentence

He loves to ride on the carousel at the park.

the luggage carousel at the airport

a CD player with a six-disk carousel

Recent Examples on the Web

Bieber ended the Instagram carousel with a post of her once again in bed, this time removing a pair of the peptide eye prep patches. —Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2025

Oregon has a Heisman hopeful and a highlight carousel in Dante Moore. —Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025

He wasn’t pictured in the carousel, but was there cheering her on. —Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 7 Oct. 2025

The musician, who goes by Glenn, posted a carousel to Instagram on Tuesday, featuring photos of himself and Elizabeth, as well as photos of the forthcoming vinyl release. —James Factora, Them., 7 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French carrousel, from Italian carosello

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carousel

• bagatelle
• caravel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal
• decibel
• demoiselle
• fontanelle
• infidel
• isabel
• machiavel

Kids Definition

carousel

noun

car·​ou·​sel

variants also carrousel

ˌkar-ə-ˈsel,

 also  -ˈzel;

ˈkar-ə-ˌsel,

 also  -ˌzel

: merry-go-round sense 1