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merry-go-round

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 29 December 2025
The Carousel El Dorado, a merry-go-round (sense 1) in the former Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo, Japan. It was the country’s oldest operational amusement ride.
A merry-go-round train (sense 1.1) for transporting coal in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Children playing on a merry-go-round (sense 1.2) or roundabout in a playground in Layton, Utah, U.S.A.

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Middle English mery
English merry
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁-der.
Proto-Germanic *gāną
Proto-West Germanic *gān
Old English gān
Middle English gon
English go
English round
English go round
English merry-go-round

    From merry (adjective) +‎ go round (verb).[1]

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    merry-go-round (plural merry-go-rounds)

    2. Synonym of carousel (“a pleasure ride, typically found at amusement parks and fairs and accompanied by music, consisting of a slowly revolving circular platform on which are fixed various seats, frequently shaped like horses or other animals, cars, etc., which may also move up and down”). [from mid 18th c.]
      Synonyms: giddy-go-round, (originally US, informal, archaic) go-round, (dated) merry-go-around, (rare) merry-go-whirl, roundabout, whirligig
      • 1858 January 9 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “France”, in Passages from the French and Italian Note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, volume I, London: Strahan & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 23:
        When we left the Madeleine we took our way to the Place de la Concorde, and thence through the Elysian Fields […] There were merry-go-rounds, wooden horses, and other provision for children's amusements among the trees; […]
      • 1922 May, Richmal Crompton, “The Best Laid Plans”, in Just—William, London: George Newnes […], published July 1941, →OCLC, page 223:
        William had eleven consecutive rides on the merry-go-round. He had made up his mind to have twelve, but, much to his regret, had to relinquish the twelfth owing to certain unpleasant sensations.
      • 2025, “Don't Forget to Say Please”, Greg Puciato (lyrics), performed by Better Lovers:
        Can you even distinguish yourself from me?
        Can you even recall how to think?
        Can you pull out the tube you suck on to feed?
        Have you ever formed your own beliefs?
        Behold the merry-go-round
        Circle so fast you can't scream
        Forget you ever knew ground
        Can't stop now
      2. (rail transport, often attributive) A freight train of hopper wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving continuously on a circular track, often incorporating a balloon loop.
        • 1963 January, G[erard] F[rancis] Fiennes, “The ‘Merry-go-Round’ Railway—a New Plan for Mineral Trains”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 23:
          Some of the desirable characteristics of the "Merry-go-round" railway described in this article are found in the Tyne Dock–Consett iron ore traffic of the N.E.R. [North Eastern Railway]. The ore is carried in high capacity wagons, run in trains of fixed formation. A triangle at the Consett works enables each train, complete with its locomotive, to be turned and sent back without any remarshalling after unloading to Tyne Dock. At the quayside, the wagons are mechanically loaded as a train and at Consett they run directly on to a gantry above unloading bunkers; they have air-operated bottom-discharge doors worked from the locomotive.
        • 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of Things to Come …”, in Rail, number 978, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 48:
          Reshaping [of British Railways] initiated the development of what would become merry-go-round trains, delivering coal non-stop to power stations in newly built hopper wagons.
      4. (chiefly US) A piece of playground equipment consisting of a circular platform that is made to revolve by pushing while users stand on it.
        Synonyms: (Australia) carousel, (UK) roundabout
    3. (figurative)
      1. A bustle of activity; also, a meaningless cycle of activity.
        Coordinate terms: musical chairs, treadmill
        • 1983, Lionel Richie, “All Night Long”, in Can't Slow Down:
          Come join the fun, it's a merry-go-round / Everyone's dancing their troubles away
        • 1984 August 18, LaVille Hannon, “Community Voices: Coming Out Help”, in Gordon Gottlieb, editor, Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 3:
          Some of us are lucky enough to still have families that care. But more often than not, we find that we have lost contact with the outside world, which leaves us very vulnerable in the merry-go-round of the parole process.
        • 1997, “The Greatest Show on Earth”, in Strangelove, performed by Strangelove, [United Kingdom]: Food Records, →OCLC:
          There's no time for happiness today / Got a date for lunch, a plastic tray / Got a deal to sign her life away / Got an early grave she's gotta make / And we are all insane / Hold on / Slow down / You'll never get to heaven on this merry-go-round […]
      2. (baseball) A series of singles and doubles that allows the batting team to score while still having runners on base who can be driven in by the next batter.
        Russell kept the merry-go-round moving with an RBI single that advanced Henderson to third.
      3. (Kenya) An informal cooperative scheme in which members (often women) regularly contribute money to a pool, the collected money being then paid out to one of the members; this is repeated so that every member eventually receives money. The collected money may also be invested, or loaned to members.
        Synonyms: (South Asia) chit fund, ROSCA, (chiefly Africa, Caribbean) susu, (Latin America) tanda
        Coordinate term: tontine

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    Translations

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    See also

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    References

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    1. ^ “merry-go-round, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “merry-go-round, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

    Further reading

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