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

The carousel started with a photo of Howard sitting at a vanity wearing a pink and yellow robe while smiling at her reflection in a mirror. —Raven Brunner, People.com, 4 Mar. 2025

Brown posted both her own and Paltrow’s look to Instagram on a two-image carousel, and tagged the actor too as her reference. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2025

At the end of the carousel, there were two images of Seacrest in the early days of the show, 21 years ago. —David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025

Personalizing your luggage is the best way to keep track of it so someone doesn’t accidentally walk away with your bag at the luggage carousel. —Melony Forcier, Travel + Leisure, 27 Feb. 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