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

Jessica Alba posted a new Instagram carousel on Friday. —Hannah Malach, InStyle, 27 Feb. 2026

Lakshmi posted a carousel of their festive, culinary adventure on Instagram. —Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2026

Also, the museum has an Eco-Adventure Carousel that includes sculptures of animals native to the surrounding mountains of the museum (additional fee for rides on the carousel). —Holly Andres, Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026

About the cross-cultural tomato-and-egg alchemy of shakshuka and the pancake playground carousel of a Dutch baby and a good espresso martini. —Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Feb. 2026

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