merry-go-round
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɛ.ɹi.ɡoʊ.ɹaʊnd/
ipa: /ˈmɛ.ɹi.ɡə.ɹaʊnd/
Forms: form: merry-go-rounds
Etymology: First attested in 1729, compound of merry and go round.
Senses: synonyms: carousel
giddy-go-round
roundabout
glosses: A carousel; a pleasure ride, typically found at fairs and amusement parks, consisting of a slowly revolving circular platform on which various seats are fixed, frequently shaped like horses or other animals.
synonyms: carousel
roundabout
glosses: A piece of playground equipment consisting of a circular platform that is made to revolve by pushing while users stand on it.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1984 August 18, LaVille Hannon, “Coming Out Help”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 4:
text: 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 […]
ref: 1997, Strangelove (band), The Greatest Show on Earth (song)
glosses: A meaningless cycle; a bustle of activity that gets nowhere.
examples: text: 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. 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.
ref: 1963 January, G. F. Fiennes, “The "Merry-go-Round" railway - a new plan for mineral trains”, in Modern Railways, page 23:
text: 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.
ref: 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 48:
topics: rail-transport
railways
transport
glosses: A freight train of hopper wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving, a balloon loop being provided at power stations.
examples: text: Russell kept the merry-go-round moving with an RBI single that advanced Henderson to third.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A series of singles and doubles that allow the batting team to score while still having runners on base who can be driven in by the next batter.
glosses: A cooperative scheme in which members regularly contribute money to a pool, and the collected money is then paid out to one of the members, repeating so that every member has eventually received the collected money.
Synonyms: word: merry-go-around
word: merry-go-whirl
Derived terms: sushi-go-round
Related terms: calliope