carousel vs whirligig

carousel

noun
  • A merry-go-round (type of ride on rotating platform). 

  • A tilting match or tournament accompanied by games, shows, and allegorical performances. 

  • An equestrian discipline in which groups of riders make various formations. 

  • A continuously revolving device for item delivery. 

  • The rotating glass plate in a microwave oven. 

  • A visual component that displays a horizontal series of items one at a time. 

verb
  • To revolve or change places. 

whirligig

noun
  • Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round. 

  • A whirligig beetle. 

  • A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch. 

  • A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea. 

How often have the words carousel and whirligig occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )