Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Merry-go-round \Mer"ry-go`-round"\, 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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 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 2 a piece of playground equipment in the style of a merry-go-round 3 (context figuratively English) A dead-end search; a bustle of activity that gets nowhere 4 (context rail transport English) A freight train of hopper goods wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving
WordNet
n. a never-ending cycle of activities and events (especially when they seem to have little purpose); "if we lose the election the whole legislative merry-go-round will have to start over"
large mechanical apparatus with seats for children to ride on [syn: carousel, carrousel, roundabout, whirligig]
Wikipedia
Merry-Go-Round, also known as Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round and Middle East Merry-Go-Round, was a BBC comedy-variety radio show introduced as entertainment for British troops during World War II. It led to several spin-offs, such as Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, Waterlogged Spa and Puffney Post Office. It provided the first major role for Jon Pertwee, who would later star in The Navy Lark and as the Third Doctor in Doctor Who.
Merry-Go-Round was a national clothing retail chain owned by Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, Inc., that thrived from the 1970s through the early 1990s. The chain fell into bankruptcy during the mid 1990s, and eventually ceased operation in 1996. It was famous for its ability to profit from short-lived fashion fads and also owned men's clothing retailers Silverman's, by purchasing 273 stores from Retail Ventures, Inc. (RVI), parent of American Eagle Outfitters, in 1989. In 1993, it purchased the Chess King clothing chain from the Melville Corporation. At its end, the company operated just over 500 locations, primarily in enclosed malls.
MainStreet.com listed it in 2011 among brand names "gone but not forgotten".
A merry-go-round is another name for a carousel or a roundabout.
Merry-go-round may also refer to:
Merry-Go-Round is a 1981 film by Jacques Rivette, starring Maria Schneider and Joe Dallesandro.
Merry-Go-Round is a 1923 American feature film directed by Erich von Stroheim and his replacement, Rupert Julian, starring Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin, and released by Universal Pictures. A copy of the film is held in a collection and it has been released on dvd.
"Merry-Go-Round" was the second commercial single taken from Moya Brennan's album Signature, released in the same year. The cover shows a photograph by Mella Travers.
The song was also recording for Moya Brennan's Heart Strings album.
Merry-Go-Round is a 1956 Hungarian drama film directed by Zoltán Fábri, based on the short story Kútban (In the Well) by Imre Sarkadi. It was in competition at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
Merry-Go-Round is a 2010 Turkish drama film directed by İlksen Başarır, which tells the story of a family dealing with incest. The film, which is the second collaboration between writer-director İlksen Başarır and co-writer Mert Fırat following the former's award-winning directorial debut film Love in Another Language , was selected for the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival.
Merry-Go-Round is an album by American jazz drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1971 and released on the Blue Note label.
Merry-Go-Round is a large oil on canvas painting made by Mark Gertler in 1916, when he was 24 years old. It is perhaps his most famous work, and depicts men and women (many in uniform) on a merry-go-round ride. The painting (and another 1915 painting entitled Swing Boats, now lost) may have been inspired by a ride at the annual fair on Hampstead Heath.
Merry-Go-Round is an Australian television series which aired on Melbourne station HSV-7 during 1961. A variety series, it also featured a "barrel quiz" and an amateur talent segment. Hosted by Panda Lisner and Michael Williamson, it was produced at Fitzroy Teletheatre. The series aired in a 60-minute time-slot at 9:30PM on Mondays, and faced tough competition from the popular In Melbourne Tonight on GTV-9.
"Merry-Go-Round" (stylized as "Merry-go-round") is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, with a rap section by Japanese artist Verbal. It was released in six different formats on December 25, 2013 by Avex Trax, Avex Taiwan, and Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide. It was also Hamasaki's first physical release in three years since her EP–single L (2010), and her first double A-side single, alongside the track " Feel the Love", since " Moon" and " Blossom" that same year. The track was written by Hamasaki, whilst production was handled by Japanese musician and long-time collaborator Max Matsuura with the assistance of M-Flo; this marks Hamasaki's first single to be produced with another producer outside of Matsuura. Musically, "Merry-Go-Round" is an electronic dance song that includes guitars and synthesizers in its instrumentation.
Upon its release, "Merry-Go-Round" received favorable reviews from music critics. Majority of them praised the composition, production, and Hamasaki's vocal performance. Some also highlighted the track as one of the best entries on Hamasaki's fifteenth studio album Colours (2014). Charting together with "Feel the Love", it under performed in Japan, reaching number five on the Oricon Singles Chart, and was her first single to miss the top spot since her single " Daybreak" twelve years earlier. Two accompanying music videos were shot by Luis Hernandez and Satoru Yokoyama, which featured Hamasaki in Los Angeles, California at the top of a skyscraper, and her with another man; the Yokoyama version also included an appearance with Verbal. To promote the single, Hamasaki performed the track on her 2013–2014 Countdown live tour.
Usage examples of "merry-go-round".
He had always been a State politician, but with the stunning defeat of his party in the Federal election two weeks ago, which had left party members on a merry-go-round, with each man stabbing the back of the man in front of him, it was rumoured that Sweden had set his sights on Canberra and the national playing field.
Sometimes Clio thought of it as a merry-go-round, where those rearing horses, nostrils flaring, plunged ahead of her, but only a moment before occupied the very point on the circle, the very point where she and her red-saddled mare now thundered by.
A gout of flame erupted noisily beyond the trees as the hydrogen that filled the gasbag of a Bioblimp merry-go-round exploded.
Its hydrogen-filled gasbag was nearly half again as large as those of the merry-go-rounds at the zoo.
She is neither a traveling menagerie, a swingboat, nor a merry-go-round.
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes jumped down from the merry-go-round and danced this way and danced that way, and for all I know they are dancing yet!
A few had found their way to zoos and amusement parks as biological merry-go-rounds.
The Merry-Go-Round catered to war-plant workers with money to spend, and to well-heeled servicemen on furlough.
We've explained and explained and diagrammed as much as we know, so I think it's time to leave this merry-go-round.
Merry-go-rounds, Red Hots, root beer, shooting galleries, beauty contests, public bathing: in a word, vulgar diversions.
They also like to take grandchildren to the park to ride on the merry-go-round, and to the lake to throw bread to the ducks and the geese and the swans.
In the same night one cannot visit the morgue, the infirmary, the zoo, the signs of the zodiac, the limbos of philosophy, the caves of epistemology, the arcana of Freud and Stekel… On the merry-go-round one doesn't get anywhere, whereas with the Germans one can go from Vega to Lope de Vega, all in one night, and come away as foolish as Parsifal.
Mirror mazes, old teacher-ladies, lost lightning-rod bags, lightning-rod salesmen disappear, snake pictures dancing, unbroken merry-go-rounds, and you want to go home!
He wanted to get us in so much trouble, no matter what we said to anybody, police, parents, that nobody”d listen to us about carnivals, late hours, merry-go-rounds, because our word”d be no good!
He wanted to get us in so much trouble, no matter what we said to anybody, police, parents, that nobody'd listen to us about carnivals, late hours, merry-go-rounds, because our word'd be no good!