Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

Carousel

1 American  
[kar-uh-sel, kar-uh-sel] / ˌkær əˈsɛl, ˈkær əˌsɛl /
Trademark.

  1. a circular tray in which photographic transparencies are held on a projector and from which they are lowered through slots for projection as the tray is rotated.

carousel 2 American  
[kar-uh-sel, kar-uh-sel] / ˌkær əˈsɛl, ˈkær əˌsɛl /
Sometimes carrousel

noun

  1. merry-go-round.

  2. a continuously revolving belt, track or other device on which items are placed for later retrieval.

    a baggage carousel at an airport.
carousel British  
/ ˌkærəˈsɛl, -ˈzɛl /

noun

  1. a circular magazine in which slides for a projector are held: it moves round as each slide is shown

  2. a rotating conveyor belt for luggage, as at an airport

  3. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): merry-go-round.   roundabout.  a revolving circular platform provided with wooden animals, seats, etc, on which people ride for amusement

  4. history a tournament in which horsemen took part in races and various manoeuvres in formation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of carousel

First recorded in 1640–50; from French: “kind of tournament,” from Italian carosello “kind of ball game,” from Neapolitan dialect carusello “game played with clay balls, clay ball,” literally, “little head,” equivalent to carus(o) “shorn head” (perhaps based on the Greek stem kors- “shave”) + -ello diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“No one reads the comic strips in newspapers anymore,” Menta said, “but if you think about it, a four-panel comic strip, it’s actually an Instagram carousel.”

From Los Angeles Times

The 41-year-old accompanied her Instagram carousel with the caption: "Tokyo times on tour and more."

From BBC

And as a wild offseason coaching carousel careens towards its conclusion, Penn State is still desperately searching for a replacement.

From The Wall Street Journal

Their wedding day involved their favourite things - fish and chips on Penarth Pier, an escape room and a carousel ride in Cardiff Bay.

From BBC

Clara posted a carousel photo on Instagram with tigers, an elk, a horse, and cats and dogs.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.