roundabout
/ˈɹaʊndəˌbaʊt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.33 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
noun
A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.
Australian usage; Canadian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; American usage
noun
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.
British usage
noun
noun
A detour.
noun
A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century.
Example Sentences
- "[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."
- ""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.""
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
Usage
- Australian usage
- Canadian usage
- New Zealand usage
- British usage
- American usage
- Archaic
Inflected Forms
more roundabout (comparative)
most roundabout (superlative)
roundabouts (plural)
roundabouts (present, singular)
roundabouting (participle, present)
roundabouted (participle, past)
roundabouted (past)
Derived Forms
Phrases
balcony roundabout
bicycle roundabout
hamburger roundabout
magic roundabout
mini-roundabout
mini roundabout
roundabout dog
spiral roundabout