Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To whisper.
  • adjective Being such that every part of the surface or the circumference is equidistant from the center.
  • adjective Moving in or forming a circle.
  • adjective Shaped like a cylinder; cylindrical.
  • adjective Rather rounded in shape.
  • adjective Full in physique; plump.
  • adjective Linguistics Formed or articulated with the lips in a rounded shape.
  • adjective Full in tone; sonorous.
  • adjective Whole or complete; full.
  • adjective Mathematics Having been rounded.
  • adjective Not exact, especially when expressed as a multiple of 10; approximate.
  • adjective Large; considerable.
  • adjective Brought to satisfactory conclusion or completion; finished.
  • adjective Outspoken; blunt.
  • adjective Done with full force; unrestrained.
  • noun Something, such as a circle, disk, globe, or ring, that is round.
  • noun A circle formed of various things.
  • noun Movement around a circle or about an axis.
  • noun A rung or crossbar, as one on a ladder or chair.
  • noun A cut of beef from the part of the thigh between the rump and the shank.
  • noun An assembly of people; a group.
  • noun A round dance.
  • noun A complete course, succession, or series.
  • noun A course of customary or prescribed actions, duties, or places.
  • noun A complete range or extent.
  • noun One drink for each person in a gathering or group.
  • noun A single outburst, as of applause or cheering.
  • noun A single shot or volley.
  • noun Ammunition for a single shot or volley.
  • noun A specified number of arrows shot from a specified distance to a target in archery.
  • noun Sports & Games A unit of play that occupies a specified time, constitutes a certain number of plays, or allows each player a turn, especially the 18-hole sequence played in golf or one of the periods in a boxing match.
  • noun Music A composition for two or more voices in which each voice enters at a different time with the same melody.
  • intransitive verb To make round or curved.
  • intransitive verb Linguistics To pronounce with rounded lips; labialize.
  • intransitive verb To fill out; make plump.
  • intransitive verb To bring to completion or perfection; finish. Often used with out or off:
  • intransitive verb Mathematics To approximate (a real number) by a nearby rational number with a specified level of precision. When rounded to the nearest hundred, 286 becomes 300. When rounded to the nearest tenth, 1.63 becomes 1.6.
  • intransitive verb To make a turn about or to the other side of.
  • intransitive verb To make a complete circuit of; go or pass around.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To encompass; surround.
  • intransitive verb To become round or curved.
  • intransitive verb To take a circular course; complete or partially complete a circuit.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English rounden, from Old English rūnian, from rūn, a secret.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman rounde, variant of Old French rond, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *retundus, from Latin rotundus; see ret- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English rounen, from Old English rūnian ("to whisper, talk low, talk secrets, consipre, talk secretly"), from Proto-Germanic *rūnōnan (“to talk secrets, whisper, decide”), *raunijanan (“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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

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Examples

  • On the other hand, expressions are materially absurd if the impossibility of there being any corresponding object is based in the particular material concepts employed, e.g., ˜a round square™ is a materially absurd expression based in the particular meanings of ˜round™ and ˜square™.

    Categories Thomasson, Amie 2009

  • The third one is a charm, but not one a democracy wants to hang 'round its neck. yahooBuzzArticleHeadline =' The third one is a charm, but not one a democracy wants to hang \'round its neck. '

    The third one is a charm, but not one a democracy wants to hang 'round its neck. 2009

  • Further south, e.g. in the region round Beit Jibrin, they are more frequently sunk vertically, the entrance being in the roof of the burial chamber, or approached by a square shaft (a reversion to the Second Semitic form, except that these latter have _round_ shafts).

    How to Observe in Archaeology Various

  • For example, if it be a false affirmation to say ‘a quadrangle is round, ’ the word ‘round quadrangle’ signifies nothing, but is a mere sound.

    Chapter IV. Of Speech 1909

  • Wheels on the bus go round and round...round and round..round then down..

    The Seattle Times 2010

  • writer's block round& round this empty block again& again i go double, triple lost each awful keystroke a doppelganger sabotage twice meeting itself this nauseous elliptical process of so little unfolding consequence anticipation wearing too tight shoes cigarettes and coffee smirking in the background hemingway& faulkner offering whiskey still the unsolved crime:

    writer’s block Ed Higgins 2010

  • We've seen this a lot of times before in many different ways, I don't really see how this is in a “whole new light”, apart from they've switched the title round from the original!

    Filmstalker: Princess and the Frog trailer online 2009

  • I rolled the name round on my tongue, sure I had tasted it before.

    An Atlas of Impossible Longing Anuradha Roy 2008

  • I rolled the name round on my tongue, sure I had tasted it before.

    An Atlas of Impossible Longing Anuradha Roy 2008

  • I rolled the name round on my tongue, sure I had tasted it before.

    An Atlas of Impossible Longing Anuradha Roy 2008

Comments

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  • A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a well known children's round for 4 voices.

    Row, row, row your boat,

    Gently down the stream.

    Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

    Life is but a dream.

    February 3, 2008

  • 'To come round' is to recover consciousness.

    'To bring round' is to attempt to cause a person to return to consciousness. An anesthetist/anesthesiologist/anaesthetist might do that.

    'round' does not seem to appear in the entry as of 17/7/13.

    July 17, 2013

  • trueseed's comment below (3/2/08) is just fine.

    I learned that round "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and many other rounds at school and since.

    This definition is now included in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, above: "Music A composition for two or more voices in which each voice enters at a different time with the same melody."

    July 17, 2013