Wiktionary

roundabout

See also: round about

English edit

 
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WOTD – 4 April 2012
 
Roundabout

Etymology edit

round +‎ about [from early 20th c.]

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹaʊndəˌbaʊt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Adjective edit

roundabout (comparative more roundabout, superlative most roundabout)

  1. Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.
    • 1896, Robert Barr, “chapter9”, in From Whose Bourne:
      [S]he fled, running like a deer, doubling and turning through alleys and back streets until by a very roundabout road she reached her own room.
    • 1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 17, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, publishers […], published 1921, →OCLC:
      "Really, Bill, I think your best plan would be to go straight to father and tell him the whole thing.—You don't want him to hear about it in a roundabout way."
    • 2001 December 3, Jim Rutenberg, “Rather Reports Another War”, in New York Times‎[1], retrieved 3 April 2014:
      Mr. Rather flew to the area in a roundabout fashion, first landing in Bahrain, from there flying to Islamabad and then heading to Kabul by land.
    • 2011, 50 Classic Philosophy Books‎[2], Golgotha Press, →ISBN:
      Descartes is compelled to fall back upon a curious roundabout argument to prove that there is a world. He must first prove that God exists, and then argue that God would not deceive us into thinking that it exists when it does not.
  2. Encircling; enveloping; comprehensive.
    • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
      The third sort is of those who readily and sincerely follow reason, but for want of having that which one may call a large, sound, roundabout sense, have not a full view of all that relates to the question.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Noun edit

roundabout (plural roundabouts)

  1. (chiefly UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, Australia and sometimes US) A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.
  2. (chiefly British) A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus.
  3. A fairground carousel.
  4. A detour.
  5. A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century.
  6. (archaic) A round dance.

Usage notes edit

  • In North America, the use of roundabout varies by region. In some places traffic circle and rotary are more common.

Synonyms edit

Coordinate terms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

See also edit

Verb edit

roundabout (third-person singular simple present roundabouts, present participle roundabouting, simple past and past participle roundabouted)

  1. To play on a roundabout (carousel)
  2. To travel round roundabouts
  3. To talk in a roundabout, indirect manner
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