merry-go-round

noun

mer·​ry-go-round ˈmer-ē-gō-ˌrau̇nd 

-gə-

1

a

: an amusement park ride with seats often in the form of animals (such as horses) revolving about a fixed center

The children grabbed each other by the hand and danced off in the direction of the merry-go-round, toward the wonderful music and the wonderful adventure and the wonderful excitement …

—E. B. White

called also carousel

b

: a children's playground apparatus consisting of a platform that revolves about a fixed center

And every day at recess, Reuben would push us on the merry-go-round on the playground. He would push us really fast, and we all thought Reuben made recess great fun—as long as we held on tight and didn't fall off as we whirled around.

—Terri Auchter

2

: a cycle of activity that is complex, fast-paced, or difficult to break out of

the corporate merry-go-round

Synonyms

• circle
• cycle
• round
• wheel
• zodiac

Examples of merry-go-round in a Sentence

weary of the daily merry-go-round of commuting to his job in the city

Recent Examples on the Web

The solving of the murder is quite straightforward, particularly after last week’s merry-go-round of visits to places Mac visited on Halloween night. —Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024

The jagged shadows of buttes and spires disappeared and reappeared, a merry-go-round of angles cast on to the cascading rocks cradling the Colorado River. —Lane Sainty, The Arizona Republic, 3 Nov. 2024

With the busing, migrants are circled around inside Mexican territory in a merry-go-round strategy that forces them to repeatedly pay off immigration agents, kidnappers and smugglers. —Emily Green, ProPublica, 1 Nov. 2024

But faced with this merry-go-round of offenders, the district attorneys bundled retail theft with drug charges and some other stuff (like longer sentences for dealers) and wrote a proposal to change the rules of Prop. 47. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1729, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

merry-go-round

noun

mer·​ry-go-round

ˈmer-ē-gō-ˌrau̇nd,

-gə-

1

: a circular revolving platform fitted with seats and figures of animals on which people sit for a ride

2

: a rapid round of activities : whirl

a merry-go-round of parties