merry-go-round vs ride

merry-go-round

noun
  • 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. 

  • A piece of playground equipment consisting of a circular platform that is made to revolve by pushing while users stand on it. 

  • A meaningless cycle; a bustle of activity that gets nowhere 

  • 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. 

  • A freight train of hopper wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving, a balloon loop being provided at power stations. 

  • 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. 

ride

noun
  • An amusement ridden at a fair or amusement park. 

  • A lift given to someone in another person's vehicle. 

  • A person (or sometimes a thing or a place) that is visually attractive. 

  • An instance of riding. 

  • A vehicle. 

  • An act of sexual intercourse 

  • In jazz, a steady rhythmical style. 

  • A wild, bewildering experience of some duration. 

  • A road or avenue cut in a wood, for riding; a bridleway or other wide country path. 

verb
  • To nag or criticize; to annoy (someone). 

  • To overlap (each other); said of bones or fractured fragments. 

  • To be transported in a vehicle; to travel as a passenger. 

  • To play defense on the defensemen or midfielders, as an attackman. 

  • To rely, depend (on). 

  • Of a ship: to sail, to float on the water. 

  • In jazz, to play in a steady rhythmical style. 

  • To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc. 

  • To manage insolently at will; to domineer over. 

  • To monitor (some component of an audiovisual signal) in order to keep it within acceptable bounds. 

  • To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding. 

  • To transport (someone) in a vehicle. 

  • To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle. 

  • Of clothing: to gradually move (up) and crease; to ruckle. 

  • To traverse by riding. 

  • To be carried or supported by something lightly and quickly; to travel in such a way, as though on horseback. 

  • To mount (someone) to have sex with them; to have sexual intercourse with. 

  • Of clothing: to rest (in a given way on a part of the body). 

How often have the words merry-go-round and ride occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )