10 PREP If something is built or based round a particular idea, that idea is the basis for it. □ That was for a design built round an existing American engine.
11 PREP If you get round a problem or difficulty, you find a way of dealing with it. □ Don't just immediately give up but think about ways round a problem.
12 ADV [ADV after v] If you win someone round , or if they come round , they change their mind about something and start agreeing with you. □ He did his best to talk me round, but I wouldn't speak to him.
13 ADV [n ADV , ADV after v] You use round in expressions such as this time round or to come round when you are describing something that has happened before or things that happen regularly. □ At least two directors were expected to vote to increase rates this time round .
14 PREP You can use round to give the measurement of the outside of something that is shaped like a circle or a cylinder. □ I'm about two inches larger round the waist. ● ADV Round is also an adverb. □ It's six feet high and five feet round.
15 ADV You use round in front of times or amounts to indicate that they are approximate. [VAGUENESS ] □ I go to bed round 11:00 at night.
16 PHRASE In spoken English, round about means approximately. [mainly BRIT , VAGUENESS ] □ Round about one and a half million people died.
17 PHRASE You say all round to emphasize that something affects all parts of a situation or all members of a group. [mainly BRIT , EMPHASIS ] □ It ought to make life much easier all round.
18 PHRASE If you say that something is going round and round in your head, you mean that you can't stop thinking about it. □ It all keeps going round and round in my head till I don't know where I am.
19 PHRASE If something happens all year round , it happens throughout the year. □ Many of these plants are evergreen, so you can enjoy them all year round.
20 round the corner → see corner
21 the other way round → see way
➋ round ◆◆◇ /raʊ nd/ (rounds )
1 N‑COUNT A round of events is a series of related events, especially one which comes after or before a similar series of events. □ [+ of ] This is the latest round of job cuts aimed at making the company more competitive.
2 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] In sport, a round is a series of games in a competition. The winners of these games go on to play in the next round, and so on, until only one player or team is left. □ [+ of ] …in the third round of the Pilkington Cup. □ After round three, two Americans share the lead.
3 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] In a boxing or wrestling match, a round is one of the periods during which the boxers or wrestlers fight. □ He was declared the victor in the 11th round.
4 N‑COUNT A round of golf is one game, usually including 18 holes. □ [+ of ] …two rounds of golf.
5 N‑COUNT If you do your rounds or your round , you make a series of visits to different places or people, for example as part of your job. [mainly BRIT ] □ The consultants still did their morning rounds.
6 N‑COUNT If you buy a round of drinks, you buy a drink for each member of the group of people that you are with. □ [+ of ] They sat on the clubhouse terrace, downing a round of drinks.
7 N‑COUNT A round of ammunition is the bullet or bullets released when a gun is fired. □ [+ of ] …firing 1650 rounds of ammunition during a period of ten minutes.
8 N‑COUNT If there is a round of applause , everyone claps their hands to welcome someone or to show that they have enjoyed something. □ [+ of ] Sue got a sympathetic round of applause.
9 N‑COUNT In music, a round is a simple song sung by several people in which each person sings a different part of the song at the same time.
10 PHRASE If a story, idea, or joke is going the rounds or doing the rounds , a lot of people have heard it and are telling it to other people. □ This story was going the rounds 20 years ago.
11 PHRASE If you make the rounds or do the rounds , you visit a series of different places. □ After school, I had picked up Nick and Ted and made the rounds of the dry cleaner and the grocery store.
➌ round /raʊ nd/ (rounder , roundest )
1 ADJ Something that is round is shaped like a circle or ball. □ She had small feet and hands and a flat, round face. □ …the round church known as The New Temple.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] A round number is a multiple of 10, 100, 1000, and so on. Round numbers are used instead of precise ones to give the general idea of a quantity or proportion. □ A million pounds seemed a suitably round number.
➍ round /raʊ nd/ (rounds , rounding , rounded )
1 VERB If you round a place or obstacle, you move in a curve past the edge or corner of it. □ [V n] The house disappeared from sight as we rounded a corner.
2 VERB If you round an amount up or down , or if you round it off , you change it to the nearest whole number or nearest multiple of 10, 100, 1000, and so on. □ [V n with adv] We needed to learn how to round up and round down numbers. □ [be V -ed + to ] The fraction was then multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest half or whole number. □ [V n adv + to ] I'll round it off to about £30.
3 → see also rounded