Lexic.us

Definition of Roundabout

1. Adjective. Marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct. "Hear in a roundabout way that her ex-husband was marrying her best friend"

2. Noun. A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island. "The accident blocked all traffic at the rotary"

3. Adjective. Deviating from a straight course. "A roundabout route avoided rush-hour traffic"

4. Noun. A large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement.

Definition of Roundabout

1. a. Circuitous; going round; indirect; as, roundabout speech.

2. n. A horizontal wheel or frame, commonly with wooden horses, etc., on which children ride; a merry-go-round.

Definition of Roundabout

1. Adjective. Indirect, circuitous or circumlocutionary; that does not do something in a direct way. ¹

2. Noun. (chiefly UK New Zealand and Australia) A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island ¹

3. Noun. (chiefly British) A children's play apparatus, often found in parks, which rotates around a central axis when pushed. ¹

4. Noun. A fairground carousel. ¹

5. Noun. A detour ¹

6. Noun. A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Roundabout

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Roundabout

1. 1. A horizontal wheel or frame, commonly with wooden horses, etc, on which children ride; a merry-go-round. 2. A dance performed in a circle. 3. A short, close jacket worn by boys, sailors, etc. 4. A state or scene of constant change, or of recurring labour and vicissitude. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Roundabout

round tables round the Horn round the bend round the clock round the twist round top round trip round trips round tuit round tuits

round turn round turns round up round whitefish round window roundabout roundabout way roundaboutly roundaboutness roundabouts

roundarm roundball rounded down rounded off rounded out rounded up rounded vowel rounded vowels

Literary usage of Roundabout

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Transportation Rates and Their Regulation: A Study of the Transportation by Harry Gunnison Brown (1916)
"Such a situation may exist when one of the lines connecting two junction points is appreciably more roundabout than the other or others. ..."

2. Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern by Edward Cornelius Towne (1898)
"God ruleth all, he wills it so: And roundabout, and roundabout, and roundabout ... And roundabout, and roundabout, and roundabout I go, The way o' the wind, ..."

3. Principles of Commerce: A Study of the Mechanism, the Advantages, and the by Harry Gunnison Brown (1916)
"Such a situation may exist when one of the lines connecting two junction points is appreciably more roundabout than the other or others. ..."

4. Value and Distribution: An Historical, Critical, and Constructive Study in by Charles William Macfarlane (1898)
"Roundabout Methods of Production.—It is a fact of common experience that roundabout methods of production are generally more profitable than direct methods. ..."

5. The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament by George V. Wigram (1866)
"Lift up thine eyes roundabout, Jer. J : 15. against all the walls thereof ... (were) upon thy walls roundabout, — their shields upon thy walls round about; ..."

Other Resources: