Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A revolving circular platform fitted with seats, often in the form of animals, ridden for amusement.
- n. A piece of playground equipment consisting of a small circular platform that revolves when pushed or pedaled.
- n. A busy round; a whirl: a merry-go-round of parties.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A revolving machine, consisting of a series of wooden horses or carriage-seats, mounted on a circular platform, on or in which children and sometimes grown persons ride for amusement. In the United States also called a carrousel.
Wiktionary
- n. carousel; a pleasure ride consisting of a slowly revolving circular platform affixed with various types of seats, frequently horses or other animals, typically found at fairs and amusement parks
- n. a piece of playground equipment in the style of a merry-go-round
- n. figuratively A dead-end search; a bustle of activity that gets nowhere
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any revolving contrivance for affording amusement; esp., a group of seats in the shape of hobbyhorses or other fanciful animals, arranged in a circle on a platform that is rotated by a mechanical drive, often to the accompaniment of music; the seats often move up and down in synchrony with the rotation; -- called also
carousel . It is employed primarily for the amusement of children, and is typically found at an amusement park.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a never-ending cycle of activities and events (especially when they seem to have little purpose)
- n. a large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement
Examples
“Cameron blamed what he called the "merry-go-round" in which a small group of boardroom directors approve each other's excessive packages to the detriment of their own companies.”
“If you have been on the merry-go-round for a while, more drastic steps may be needed.”
“If you do, you are on the car loan merry-go-round, and it's time to make a plan to get off.”
“Through prudent planning it is possible to get off the car loan merry-go-round and instead have enough money for that family vacation or extra money for retirement or college.”
“If a kid fell off the merry-go-round the mother or nanny watching them would run over and, if they were bleeding or unconsolable, take them away.”
“But, as with all things, the merry-go-round stopped and my kids jumped off the ride and turned into mini Linda Blair-esque monsters.”
The Huffington Post: Agi Smith: What Should You Do When Your New Love Bails?
“It plays in the last episode though. when Takizawa is standing on the merry-go-round conveniently pointing at missiles and saying “bang!””
Eden of the East – What mystery dost thou holdeth? « Undercover
“They are being followed by the police and, as they chase each other onto the merry-go-round, one policeman shoots somewhat randomly and kills the man at the controls.”
“Finally he gets there, and yanks the lever upright to bring the merry-go-round to an abrupt and explosive halt, causing death or injury to any number of small children, one imagines, but inadvertently resolving the situation between Bruno and Guy.”
“The merry-go-round accelerates wildly, women and children scream in terror, and the fight between the two protagonists increases in fury and intent.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘merry-go-round’.
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
What Goes Around
ambitus, revolver, circus, roundabout, circle, merry-go-round, gyrate, spiral, cycle, circumnavigate, encyclical, revolution and 7 more...
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Jacqueline's Words
glittery, horny, amazing, wanderlust, forlorn, lustily, nonchalant, cool, passive, submissive, roundabout, carousel and 558 more...
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tragedy of the commons
insomnia, arabesque, carousal, lucifer, riot, submerge, initiate, indigo, existence, magenta, opus, sleeplessness and 145 more...
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A Dalliance of Dahlias
For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names I
Tulip Names II: You Know My Name
A Myriad of Iriia la mode, ace o' hearts, acclimation, adhesion, admirable, adorable you, advance, affirmed, after glow, agricola, alabama melody, alabaster queen and 1152 more...
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roundabout
words that imply circular direction or shape
circumlocutious, rotunda, circumfrence, spiral, gyration, orbicular, merry-go-round, encyclical, circumbendibus
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Favorite words: 2012 edition
carousel, merry-go-round, Manhattan, alive, skyscraper, city, cityscape, mauve, defenestrate, twisted, insane, gone and 13 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for merry-go-round.
oroboros As they toured the fairgrounds the ole man noted to the kid, "You may consider you're getting somewhere when you can see the humor in the merry-go-round without ridiculing the riders." --Jan Cox Nov 15, 2007