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

In the last month, our top three most viral Instagram posts were carousels, not reels. —Gianluca Ferruggia, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025

The photo was shared in a July 20 Instagram post that featured a carousel of images of Gomez and her loved ones, including her fiancé, Benny Blanco. —Kirsty Hatcher, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025

However, the coaching carousel wasn’t an easy thing for the team to adapt to, especially knowing the interim coaches were unlikely to return the following season. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2025

Athalie Edwards, who was named for Range’s grandmother, is the chair of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, and says that the park is making progress on necessary upgrades to their amenities such as the train and carousel, holdovers from the park’s early days during Jim Crow. —Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 1 Aug. 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