roundabout
roundabout Lexical Profile
roundabout Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A circular road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island to reach one of the converging roads.
"Take the second exit at the roundabout and continue straight for two miles."
British A revolving amusement ride or playground structure; a merry-go-round or carousel.
"The children rode the painted wooden horses on the fairground roundabout."
American A short, close-fitting jacket worn by men and boys, especially in the nineteenth century.
"The museum display featured a wool roundabout worn by a young nineteenth-century sailor."
• adjective
Not following a short or direct route; circuitous.
"Because of the roadblocks, we had to take a roundabout route to the airport."
Not straightforward or explicit in speech or expression; evasive or circumlocutory.
"He asked in a roundabout way whether she was planning to resign."
• adverb
British Approximately or roughly (used before a quantity, time, or measurement).
"The repairs should cost roundabout five hundred pounds."
On all sides; in every direction around a central point.
"The ancient tower stood on a hill with fertile farmland stretching roundabout."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in late Middle English as a compound of the adverbs 'round' and 'about', originally meaning 'in a ring or circle on every side'. The British traffic sense emerged in the early 20th century, modeled after the earlier British sense of a fairground carousel.