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

New Atlas The rides were in varying stages of decay, and there seemed to be a lot of orphaned carousel horses from other amusement centers dotted across the park. — New Atlas, 18 Aug. 2026

Instagram made a similar consolidation in 2024, when Meta made views the primary metric across Reels, photos, Stories and carousels. — Gabriel Alin Zainescu, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

When a franchise goes through years of coaching carousels, roster turnover, and growing pains, finding consistency becomes the top priority. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 16 Aug. 2026

Included in the carousel of photos was an image of the My Body author lounging in bed completely nude while applying makeup. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French carrousel, from Italian carosello

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carousel

• bagatelle
• calomel
• caravel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal
• coronel
• decibel
• demoiselle
• fontanelle
• hydrocele

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