What does "round" mean?
A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
Round
/ˈɹaʊnd/ adj, adv, name, noun, prep, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, prep, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
- Grammar: round is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, prep, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: circle, cycle, about, about.
- Useful contrasts: aciculate, amygdaloid, angular forms.
- Usage evidence: Her eyes become round in surprise.
How to use "round"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "round" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "round" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "round" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "round" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "round" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, prep, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "circle" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "round", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
"in labyrinth of many a round self-rolled"
- 2 A whisper; whispering. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal
- 3 the usual activities in your day wordnet
- 4 A circular or repetitious route.
"hospital rounds"
- 5 Discourse; song. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal
Show 41 more definitions
- 6 the activity of playing 18 holes of golf wordnet
- 7 A general outburst from a group of people at an event.
"The candidate got a round of applause after every sentence or two."
- 8 (often plural) a series of professional calls (usually in a set order) wordnet
- 9 A song that is sung by groups of people with each subset of people starting at a different time. countable
- 10 any circular or rotating mechanism wordnet
- 11 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."
- 12 a charge of ammunition for a single shot wordnet
- 13 A single individual portion or dose of medicine.
"Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy in February but stopped after that single treatment, citing religious beliefs."
- 14 a crosspiece between the legs of a chair wordnet
- 15 One slice of bread. UK
"For breakfast I had two rounds of toast and a mug of tea."
- 16 an outburst of applause wordnet
- 17 One sandwich (two full slices of bread with filling).
- 18 a partsong in which voices follow each other; one voice starts and others join in one after another until all are singing different parts of the song at the same time wordnet
- 19 A long-bristled, circular-headed paintbrush used in oil and acrylic painting.
- 20 a cut of beef between the rump and the lower leg wordnet
- 21 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.
- 22 a serving to each of a group (usually alcoholic) wordnet
- 23 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.
"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"
- 24 a regular route for a sentry or policeman wordnet
- 25 A stage, level, set of events in a game; A stage in a competition.
"qualifying rounds of the championship"
- 26 the course along which communications spread wordnet
- 27 A stage, level, set of events in a game; In some sports, e.g. golf or showjumping: one complete way around the course.
- 28 (sports) a division of a game during which one team is on the offensive wordnet
- 29 A stage, level, set of events in a game; A stage or level of a game.
"When the player uses one shell to complete a round within 50 seconds, it vanishes forever. At the end of two successful rounds, for instance, the player has only two shells to pick from during docking."
- 30 an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs wordnet
- 31 A stage, level, set of events in a game; The play after each deal.
- 32 A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an outside edge, added for a finished appearance and to soften sharp edges.
- 33 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."
- 34 The hindquarters of a bovine; a round of beef.
- 35 A rung, as of a ladder. dated
"All the rounds like Jacob's ladder rise."
- 36 A crosspiece that joins and braces the legs of a chair.
- 37 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"
- 38 A course of action or conduct performed by a number of persons in turn, or one after another, as if seated in a circle.
"Women to cards may be compar'd: we play ¶ A round or two; when us'd, we throw away."
- 39 A series of duties or tasks which must be performed in turn, and then repeated.
"The trivial round, the common task, Would furnish all we ought to ask; […]"
- 40 A circular dance.
"Come, knit hands, and beat the ground, In a light fantastic round."
- 41 Rotation, as in office; succession.
"A Cave[…], Where light and darkness in perpetual round Lodge and dislodge by turns."
- 42 A general discharge of firearms by a body of troops in which each soldier fires once.
- 43 An assembly; a group; a circle.
"a round of politicians"
- 44 A brewer's vessel in which the fermentation is concluded, the yeast escaping through the bunghole.
- 45 A vessel filled, as for drinking. archaic
- 46 A round-top.
Verb
- 1 To shape something into a curve. transitive
"The carpenter rounded the edges of the table."
- 2 To speak in a low tone; whisper; speak secretly; take counsel. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal, intransitive
- 3 become round, plump, or shapely wordnet
- 4 To become shaped into a curve. intransitive
"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."
- 5 To address or speak to in a whisper, utter in a whisper. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal, transitive
"rounded in the ear"
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 make round wordnet
- 7 To finish; to complete; to fill out; see also round out.
"She rounded out her education with only a single mathematics class."
- 8 express as a round number wordnet
- 9 To approximate (a number, especially a decimal number) by the closest whole number, or some other close number, especially a whole number of hundreds, thousands, etc.; see also round down, round up. intransitive, transitive
"The exact amount was $101.65, but we rounded it to $100."
- 10 bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state wordnet
- 11 To turn past a boundary. transitive
"Helen watched him until he rounded the corner."
- 12 attack in speech or writing wordnet
- 13 To turn and attack someone or something (used with on). intransitive
"As a group of policemen went past him, one of them rounded on him, grabbing him by the arm."
- 14 pronounce with rounded lips wordnet
- 15 To advance to home plate. transitive
"And the runners round the bases on the double by Jones."
- 16 wind around; move along a circular course wordnet
- 17 To go round, pass, go past. transitive
"Diouf rounded Zaluska near the byeline and crossed but Daniel Majstorovic headed away and Celtic eventually mopped up the danger."
- 18 To encircle; to encompass.
"The inclusive verge Of golden metal that must round my brow."
- 19 To grow round or full; hence, to attain to fullness, completeness, or perfection.
"The queen your mother rounds apace."
- 20 To do ward rounds. colloquial
- 21 To go round, as a guard; to make the rounds. intransitive, obsolete
"They […] nightly rounding walk."
- 22 To go or turn round; to wheel about. intransitive, obsolete
Adjective
- 1 Of shape:; Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction. physical
"We sat at a round table to make conversation easier."
- 2 Of shape:; Spherical; shaped like a ball; having a circular cross-section in more than one direction. physical
"The ancient Egyptian demonstrated that the Earth is round, not flat."
- 3 Of shape:; Loosely or approximately circular. physical
"a round belly"
- 4 Of shape:; Lacking sharp angles; having gentle curves. physical
"Our child's bed has round corners for safety."
- 5 Of shape:; Plump. physical
"He was tall and thin but his wife was short and round."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 Complete, whole, not lacking.
"The baker sold us a round dozen."
- 7 Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
"One hundred is a nice round number."
- 8 Pronounced with the lips drawn together; rounded.
""Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.)"
- 9 Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; not mincing words.
"a round answer"
- 10 Finished; polished; not defective or abrupt; said of authors or their writing style.
"In his satires Horace is quick, round, and[…]pleasant."
- 11 Consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct. obsolete
"Round dealing is the honour of man's nature."
- 12 Large in magnitude.
"I have a good banker in this city, but I would not wish to draw upon the house until the time when I shall draw for a round sum."
- 13 Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.
- 14 Vaulted.
- 15 Returning to its starting point.
"round trip, round journey, round walk"
Adjective
- 1 (mathematics) expressed to the nearest integer, ten, hundred, or thousand wordnet
- 2 (of sounds) full and rich wordnet
- 3 having the shape or form of a circle wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Alternative form of around. alt-of, alternative, not-comparable
"The invitations were sent round accordingly."
Adverb
- 1 from beginning to end; throughout wordnet
Preposition
- 1 Alternative form of around. alt-of, alternative, rare
"I look round the room quickly to make sure it's neat."
- 2 Alternative form of around. alt-of, alternative, rare
"The farmer fed his cow hay all the year round."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"Her eyes become round in surprise."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "round"?
Common synonyms include: circle, cycle, about, about, about origin rotation phrase, absolute.
How do you use "round" in a sentence?
Her eyes become round in surprise.
How do you pronounce "round"?
Pronounced /ˈɹaʊnd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.
Etymology 2
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.
Etymology 3
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 raunen (“to whisper, say secretly”), Swedish rön (“findings, observations, experience”).