What does carousel mean?
Word: Carousel
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Carousel means a moving belt at an airport from which passengers collect their bags. It can also be a fairground ride, which British speakers usually call a merry-go-round or roundabout.
How do you spell carousel?
Syllables: car - ou - sel
Tricky part: The vowel sound after the r is faint when spoken, so pupils guess and write carasel or caresel. Two vowels sit there, not one.
Watch out for: carasel, caresel
Memory tip: While writing, say it to yourself with a loud ow in the middle, car-OW-sel. It sounds silly, and it keeps both of those vowels in place.
Carousel in a sentence
Example 1: We waited at the carousel for twenty minutes before my blue bag appeared.
Example 2: The screen at the airport told us to go to the third carousel.
Example 3: My little cousin refused to leave the carousel at the fair until she had ridden the white horse twice.
Fun Fact
Back in the 1600s the word named a display of riding skill by horsemen, and it reached English through French. The wooden horses on a fairground ride keep that old link alive.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
ca_ous_l
a) r, i
b) l, e
c) r, e
d) l, i
Show answer
c) r, e. The last beat is said like sell, so the vowel there is e.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our suitcases went round the carousell twice before my father noticed them among the boxes from the Tokyo flight.
a) boxes
b) suitcases
c) carousell
d) father
Show answer
c) carousell. This word closes with one l only.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The tourists from Kochi waited beside the oasculre and chatted about the long flight.
a) cartwheel
b) carousel
c) casserole
d) carnival
Show answer
b) carousel. The jumble holds a u and an s, and only one of these four words has both.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. itinery 2. turbulance 3. souvenier 4. carousel
a) rough, uneven movement of air during a flight
b) something you buy to remember a place
c) a rotating track that brings luggage to travellers
d) a detailed plan of a trip
Show answer
c) a rotating track that brings luggage to travellers. Souvenir ends in ir, turbulence has an e before the n, and itinerary has an extra beat before the y.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An arrivals screen shows the words 'Carousel 4'. Who needs this information?
a) passengers about to board
b) pilots planning the route
c) staff at the check-in desk
d) passengers who have just landed
Show answer
d) passengers who have just landed
2. Which feature do the two kinds of carousel share?
a) they run on rails across town
b) they are found only indoors
c) they carry people upward
d) things on them keep going round
Show answer
d) things on them keep going round
