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Careen and Career
Some people might be confused by the warning to not confuse careen and career, because the most common sense of career ("a profession") is not much like any of the meanings of careen. But when employed as a verb, career does have some semantic overlap with careen; both words may be used to mean "to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner." A car, for instance, may either careen or career. Some usage guides hold, however, that the car is only careening if there is side-to-side motion, as careen has other meanings related to movement, among which is "to sway from side to side."
Synonyms
Examples of careen in a Sentence
Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 18 Nov. 2024
The incident unfolded on Lap 76, as Mills' truck was sent careening into the Turn 4 wall, subsequently catching fire.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
The latter landed relatively regularly when the two men went careening over the top rope at the end of the seventh round.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2024
The ball careened off Branch’s outstretched arms, slipped through another USC player’s hands and was eventually corralled by Wisconsin.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Careen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/careen. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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