Definition

1. Noun:
   • A large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride on for amusement: A carousel is a circular, rotating platform fitted with model animals, vehicles, or seats on which people, especially children, ride for entertainment at a fair or amusement park.
   • A conveyor belt that carries luggage to be claimed by air travelers: In an airport, a carousel is a continuously moving, circular belt on which arriving passengers' checked luggage is placed for collection.

Usage

• The primary use is as a countable noun.
• In the amusement context, it is synonymous with "merry-go-round" or "roundabout" (British English).
• In the airport context, it is a standard term in air travel.

Examples

• Amusement Ride:

  • The children ran straight to the colorful carousel at the fair.
  • She rode the white horse on the carousel three times.

• Airport Luggage System:

  • Please proceed to baggage claim carousel number four.
  • We waited for twenty minutes at the carousel for our suitcases to appear.

Advanced Usage

• "Carousel of" (Metaphorical Use): Used to describe a continuously changing cycle or sequence of events, images, or emotions.
  • The documentary presented a carousel of images from the last century.
  • Her mind was a carousel of worries.

Variants and Related Words

• Carrousel: An alternative, less common spelling for the amusement ride.
• Merry-go-round: A direct synonym for the amusement ride.
• Roundabout: A British English synonym for the amusement ride.
• Luggage carousel / Baggage carousel: The full term for the airport system.

Synonyms

• For the ride: merry-go-round, roundabout.
• For the luggage system: conveyor belt, baggage claim belt.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• (Just) a carousel: Used to imply that a situation is a repetitive, unchanging cycle.
  • Their arguments were just a carousel of the same old issues.
• The carousel of life: A poetic phrase describing life's continuous and cyclical nature.

Noun

1. a large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement
2. a conveyer belt that carries luggage to be claimed by air travelers