Meaning of round in English

1. Pronunciation

   /raʊnd/

   US accent

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   UK accent

   How to pronounce round in British English, in context ▾
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1. Verb

   round

   Definitions

   1. wind around

   Examples

   • « move along a circular course »
   • « round the bend »
2. 2. make round

   Examples

   • « round the edges »
3. 3. be around

   Examples

   • « Developments surround the town »
   • « The river encircles the village »
4. 4. pronounce with rounded lips
5. 5. attack in speech or writing

   Examples

   • « The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker »
6. 6. bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state

   Examples

   • « polish your social manners »
7. 7. express as a round number

   Examples

   • « round off the amount »
8. 8. become round, plump, or shapely

   Examples

   • « The young woman is fleshing out »

9. Classifying Adjective

   round

   Definitions

   1. (of sounds) full and rich

   Examples

   • « orotund tones »
   • « the rotund and reverberating phrase »
   • « pear-shaped vowels »

   Synonyms

   • full
10. 2. (of numbers) to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand

    Examples

    • « in round numbers »

    Synonyms

    • inexact

11. Adverb

    round

    Definitions

    1. from beginning to end

    Examples

    • « throughout »
    • « It rains all year round on Skye »
    • « frigid weather the year around »

12. Noun

    round

    Definitions

    1. a charge of ammunition for a single shot
13. 2. an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs

    Examples

    • « the neverending cycle of the seasons »
14. 3. a regular route for a sentry or policeman

    Examples

    • « in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name »
15. 4. (often plural) a series of professional calls (usually in a set order)

    Examples

    • « the doctor goes on his rounds first thing every morning »
    • « the postman's rounds »
    • « we enjoyed our round of the local bars »
16. 5. the activity of playing 18 holes of golf

    Examples

    • « a round of golf takes about 4 hours »
17. 6. the usual activities in your day

    Examples

    • « the doctor made his rounds »
18. 7. (sports) a period of play during which one team is on the offensive
19. 8. the course along which communications spread

    Examples

    • « the story is going the rounds in Washington »
20. 9. a serving to each of a group (usually alcoholic)

    Examples

    • « he ordered a second round »
21. 10. a cut of beef between the rump and the lower leg
22. 11. a partsong in which voices follow each other

    Examples

    • « one voice starts and others join in one after another until all are singing different parts of the song at the same time »
    • « they enjoyed singing rounds »
23. 12. an outburst of applause

    Examples

    • « there was a round of applause »
24. 13. a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
25. 14. any circular or rotating mechanism

    Examples

    • « the machine punched out metal circles »

26. Qualitative Adjective

    round

    Etymology

    Middle English: from the Old French stem round-, from a variant of Latin rotundus‘rotund’

    Definitions

    1. having a circular shape

    Synonyms

    • ball-shaped
    • global
    • globose
    • globular
    • orbicular
    • spheric
    • spherical
    • bulblike
    • bulbous
    • capitate
    • coccoid
    • cumuliform
    • discoid
    • discoidal
    • disklike
    • moonlike
    • moon-round
    • nutlike
    • pear-shaped
    • ringlike
    • roundish
    • orbiculate
    • orbicular

    Antonyms

    • square

See also

• rounded