Edit page | Page history | Printable version

round

On every side of, so as to encompass or encircle; around; about; as, the people atood round him; to go round the city; to wind a cable round a windlass. The serpent error twines round human hearts. (Cowper) Round about, an emphatic form for round or about. Moses . . . Set them [The elders] round about the tabernacle. To come round, to gain the consent of, or circumvent, (a person) by flattery or deception.

1. To make circular, spherical, or cylindrical; to give a round or convex figure to; as, to round a silver coin; to round the edges of anything. Worms with many feet, which round themselves into balls, are bred chiefly under logs of timber. (bacon) The figures on our modern medals are raised and rounded to a very great perfection. (Addison)

2. To surround; to encircle; to encompass. The inclusive verge Of golden metal that must round my brow. (Shak)

3. To bring to fullness or completeness; to complete; hence, to bring to a fit conclusion. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. (Shak)

4. To go round wholly or in part; to go about (a corner or point); as, to round a corner; to round Cape horn.

5. To make full, smooth, and flowing; as, to round periods in writing. To round in To haul up; usually, to haul the slack of (a rope) through its leading block, or to haul up (a tackle which hangs loose) by its fall. To collect together (cattle) by riding around them, as on cattle ranches.

Origin: Rounded; Rounding.

To whisper. The 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?' (Calderwood)

Origin: From Roun.

1. Having every portion of the surface or of the circumference equally distant from the center; spherical; circular; having a form approaching a spherical or a circular shape; orbicular; globular; as, a round ball. The big, round tears. Upon the firm opacous globe Of this round world. (milton)

2. Having the form of a cylinder; cylindrical; as, the barrel of a musket is round.

3. Having a curved outline or form; especially, one like the arc of a circle or an ellipse, or a portion of the surface of a sphere; rotund; bulging; protuberant; not angular or pointed; as, a round arch; round hills. Their round haunches gored.

4. Full; complete; not broken; not fractional; approximately in even units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.; said of numbers. Pliny put a round number near the truth, rather than the fraction. (Arbuthnot)

5. Not inconsiderable; large; hence, generous; free; as, a round price. Three thousand ducats; 'tis a good round sum. (Shak) Round was their pace at first, but slackened soon. (Tennyson)

6. Uttered or emitted with a full tone; as, a round voice; a round note.

7. Modified, as a vowel, by contraction of the lip opening, making the opening more or less round in shape; rounded; labialized; labial.

8. Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; unqualified; not mincing; as, a round answer; a round oath. The round assertion. Sir Toby, I must be round with you. (Shak)

9. Full and smoothly expanded; not defective or abrupt; finished; polished; said of style, or of authors with reference to their style. In his satires Horace is quick, round, and pleasant. (Peacham)

10. Complete and consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct. Round dealing is the honor of man's nature. (bacon) at a round rate, rapidly. In round numbers, approximately in even units, tens, hundreds, etc.; as, a bin holding 99 or 101 bushels may be said to hold in round numbers 100 bushels.

(Science: medicine) Round bodies, one turn of a rope round a timber, a belaying pin, etc. To bring up with a round turn, to stop abruptly.

Synonym: Circular, spherical, globular, globase, orbicular, orbed, cylindrical, full, plump, rotund.

Origin: OF. Roond, roont, reond, F. Rond, fr. L. Rotundus, fr. Rota wheel. See Rotary, and cf. Rotund, roundel, Rundlet.