Round

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈɹaÊŠnd/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠnd

From Old French ront, runt ( >

French rond), representing an earlier *rodond, from Latin rotundus ( >

Italian rotondo, Provençal redon, Spanish redondo etc.). The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Compare rotund and rotunda.

Full definition of round

Adjective

1. (physical) Shape.
1. Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.
   We sat at a round table to make conversation easier.
2. Spherical; shaped like a ball; having a circular cross-section in more than one direction.
   The ancient Egyptian demonstrated that the Earth is round, not flat.
3. Lacking sharp angles; having gentle curves.
   Our child's bed has round corners for safety.
4. Plump.
• 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography Chapter 2/2, If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
2. Complete, whole, not lacking.
   The baker sold us a round dozen.
• Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)Round was their pace at first, but slackened soon.
3. (of a number) Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
   One hundred is a nice round number.
4. (linguistics) Pronounced with the lips drawn together.
5. Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; not mincing.
   a round answer;  a round oath
• Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)the round assertion
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)Sir Toby, I must be round with you.
6. Finished; polished; not defective or abrupt; said of authors or their writing style.
• Henry Peacham (1578-c.1644)In his satires Horace is quick, round, and pleasant.
7. Consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct.
• Francis Bacon (1561-1626)Round dealing is the honour of man's nature.

Synonyms

• (circular) circular, cylindrical, discoid
• (spherical) spherical
• (of corners that lack sharp angles) rounded
• (plump) plump, rotund
• (not lacking) complete, entire, whole
• (of a number) rounded
• (pronounced with the mouth open) rounded

Derived terms

• round angle

Derived terms

Noun

1. A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
• Shakespearethe golden round crown
• Miltonin labyrinth of many a round self-rolled
• 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes....She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
• 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber 2005, p. 50:All at once the sun was through, a round of dulled silver, racing slantwise through the clouds yet always staying in the same place.
2. A circular or repetitious route.hospital rounds
   The guards have started their rounds; the prisoner should be caught soon.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 15, Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
3. A general outburst from a group of people at an event.
   The candidate got a round of applause after every sentence or two.
4. A song that is sung by groups of people with each subset of people starting at a different time.
5. A serving of something; a portion of something to each person in a group.
   They brought us a round of drinks about every thirty minutes.
• Charles Dickens, Dombey and SonThere is a snaky gleam in her hard grey eye, as of anticipated rounds of buttered toast, relays of hot chops, worryings and quellings of young children, sharp snappings at poor Berry, and all the other delights of her Ogress's castle.
6. A single individual portion or dose of medicine.
• 2009, Patrick Condon, "Boy with cancer, mom return home", Associated Press, printed in Austin American-Statesman, 2009 May 26, page A4:Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy in February but stopped after that single treatment, citing religious beliefs.
7. (arts) A long-bristled, circular-headed paintbrush used in oil and acrylic painting.
8. A firearm cartridge, bullet, or any individual ammunition projectile. Originally referring to the spherical projectile ball of a smoothbore firearm. Compare round shot and solid shot.
9. (sports) One of the specified pre-determined segments of the total time of a sport event, such as a boxing or wrestling match, during which contestants compete before being signaled to stop.
• April 19 2002, Scott Tobias, AV Club Fightvillehttp://www.avclub.com/articles/fightville,72589/And though Fightville, an MMA documentary from the directors of the fine Iraq War doc Gunner Palace, presents it more than fairly, the sight of a makeshift ring getting constructed on a Louisiana rodeo ground does little to shake the label. Nor do the shots of ringside assistants with spray bottles and rags, mopping up the blood between rounds
10. (sports) A stage in a competition.
    qualifying rounds of the championship
11. (sports) In some sports, e.g. golf or showjumping: one complete way around the course.
12. (engineering, drafting, CAD) A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an outside edge, added for a finished appearance and to soften sharp edges.
13. A strip of material with a circular face that covers an edge, gap, or crevice for decorative, sanitary, or security purposes.
    All furniture in the nursery had rounds on the edges and in the crevices.
14. (butchery) The hindquarters of a bovine.
15. (dated) A rung, as of a ladder.
• DrydenAll the rounds like Jacob's ladder rise.
• 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick,The perpendicular parts of this side ladder, as is usually the case with swinging ones, were of cloth-covered rope, only the rounds were of wood, so that at every step there was a joint.
16. A crosspiece that joins and braces the legs of a chair.
17. A series of changes or events ending where it began; a series of like events recurring in continuance; a cycle; a periodical revolution.the round of the seasons; a round of pleasures
18. A course of action or conduct performed by a number of persons in turn, or one after another, as if seated in a circle.
• GranvilleWomen to cards may be compared: we play
  A round or two; which used, we throw away.
• PriorThe feast was served; the bowl was crowned;
  To the king's pleasure went the mirthful round.
19. A series of duties or tasks which must be performed in turn, and then repeated.
• Keblethe trivial round, the common task
20. A circular dance.
• MiltonCome, knit hands, and beat the ground,
  In a light fantastic round.
21. Rotation, as in office; succession.
22. A general discharge of firearms by a body of troops in which each soldier fires once.
23. An assembly; a group; a circle.a round of politicians
24. A brewer's vessel in which the fermentation is concluded, the yeast escaping through the bunghole.
25. (archaic) A vessel filled, as for drinking.
26. (nautical) A round-top.
27. A round of beef.

Synonyms

• (song) canon
• (hindquarters of a bovine) rump

Antonyms

• (rounded inside edge) fillet

Derived terms

• round of applause

Preposition

1. (rare in US) Alternative form of around.I look round the room quickly to make sure it's neat.
• CowperThe serpent Error twines round human hearts.

Derived terms

• go round
• look round

Adverb

1. Alternative form of around
• Sir Walter ScottThe invitations were sent round accordingly.

Verb

1. (transitive) To shape something into a curve.The carpenter rounded the edges of the table.
• Francis BaconWorms with many feet, which round themselves into balls, are bred chiefly under logs of timber.
• AddisonThe figures on our modern medals are raised and rounded to a very great perfection.
2. (intransitive) To become shaped into a curve.
• 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,The girl's figure, he perceived, was admirably proportioned; she was evidently at the period when the angles of childhood were rounding into the promising curves of adolescence.
3. (with "out") To finish; to complete; to fill out.She rounded out her education with only a single mathematics class.
• ShakespeareWe are such stuff
  As dreams are made on, and our little life
  Is rounded with a sleep.
4. (intransitive) To approximate a number, especially a decimal number by the closest whole number.Ninety-five rounds up to one hundred.
5. (transitive) To turn past a boundary.Helen watched him until he rounded the corner.
6. (intransitive) To turn and attack someone or something (used with on).As a group of policemen went past him, one of them rounded on him, grabbing him by the arm.
7. (transitive, baseball) To advance to home plate.And the runners round the bases on the double by Jones.
8. (transitive) To go round, pass, go past.
• 2011, March 2, Andy Campbell, Celtic 1 - 0 Rangers, Diouf rounded Zaluska near the byeline and crossed but Daniel Majstorovic headed away and Celtic eventually mopped up the danger.
9. To encircle; to encompass.
• ShakespeareThe inclusive verge
  Of golden metal that must round my brow.
10. To grow round or full; hence, to attain to fullness, completeness, or perfection.
• ShakespeareThe queen your mother rounds apace.
• TennysonSo rounds he to a separate mind,
  From whence clear memory may begin.
11. (obsolete, intransitive) To go round, as a guard; to make the rounds.
• MiltonThey ... nightly rounding walk.
12. (obsolete, intransitive) To go or turn round; to wheel about.

Derived terms

• round off
• round out
• round up
• round down

From Middle English rounen, from Old English rūnian ("to whisper, talk low, talk secrets, consipre, talk secretly"), from Proto-Germanic *rūnōną ("to talk secrets, whisper, decide"), *raunijaną ("to investigate, examine, prove"), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- ("to trace, find out, look out"). Cognate with Scots roun ("to converse with in whispers, speak privately"), Middle Low German rūnen ("to whisper"), Middle Dutch ruinen ("to whisper"), German raunen ("to whisper, murmur"), Old English rūn ("whisper, secret, mystery"), Swedish röna ("to meet with, experience"). More at rune.

Verb

1. (intransitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To speak in a low tone; whisper; speak secretly; take counsel.
2. (transitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To address or speak to in a whisper, utter in a whisper.
• CalderwoodThe Bishop of Glasgow rounding in his ear, "Ye are not a wise man," ... he rounded likewise to the bishop, and said, "Wherefore brought ye me here?"

From Middle English roun, from Old English rūn ("whisper, secret, mystery"), from Proto-Germanic *rūnō, *raunō ("a whisper, secret, secret sign"), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- ("to trace, find out, look out"). Cognate with Scots roun, round ("a whisper, secret story"), German Rune ("rune"), Swedish rön ("findings, observations, experience").

Noun

1. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A whisper; whispering.
2. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Discourse; song.