Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ROUND'A-BOUT, a. [round and about.]

1. Indirect; going round; loose. Paraphrase is a roundabout way of translating. Felton.
2. Ample; extensive; as, roundabaut sense. Locke.
3. Encircling; encompassing. Tatler. [In any sense, this word is inelegant.]

ROUND'A-BOUT, n.

A large strait coat.

ROUND'-BACK-ED, or ROUND'-SHOULD-ER-ED, a.

Having a round back or shoulders.

ROUND'EL, or ROUND'E-LAY, n. [or ROUND'O. Fr. rondelet, from rond, round.]

1. A sort of ancient poem, consisting of thirteen verses, of which eight are in one kind of rhyme, and five in another. It is divided into couplets; at the end of the second and third of which, the beginning of the poem is repeated, and that, if possible, in an equivocal or punning sense. Trevoux. Encyc.
2. [Fr. rondelle, a little shield.] A round form or figure. [Not used.] Bacon.
3. [Roundel, in heraldry, a circular spot. – E.H.B.]

ROUND'ER, n. [See Rondure.]

Circumference; inclosure. [Not in use.] Shak.

ROUND'HEAD, n. [round and head.]

A name formerly given to a puritan, from the practice which prevailed among the puritans of cropping the hair round. Spectator.

ROUND'HEAD-ED, a.

Having a round head or top. Lowth.

ROUND'HOUSE, n.

1. A constable's prison; the prison to secure persons taken up by the night-watch, till they can be examined by a magistrate. Encyc.
2. In a ship of war, a certain necessary near the head, for the use of particular officers.
3. In large merchantmen and ships of war, a cabin or apartment in the after part of the quarter-deck, having the poop for its roof; sometimes called the coach. It is the master's lodging room. Mar. Dict. Encyc.

ROUND'ING, a.

Round or roundish; nearly round.

ROUND'ING, n.

Among scamen, old ropes wound about the part of the cable which lies in the hawse, or athwart the stem, to prevent its chafing. Rounding in, a pulling upon a slack rope, which passes through one or more blocks in a direction nearly horizontal. Rounding up is a pulling in like manner, when a tackle hangs in a perpendicular direction. Mar. Dict.

ROUND'ING, ppr.

1. Making round or circular.
2. Making full, flowing and smooth.

ROUND'ISH, a.

Somewhat round; nearly round; as, a roundish seed; a roundish figure. Boyle.

ROUND'ISH-NESS, n.

The state of being roundish.

ROUND'LET, n.

A little circle. Gregory.

ROUND'LY, adv.

1. In a round form or manner.
2. Openly; boldly; without reserve; peremptorily. He affirms every thing roundly. Addison.
3. Plainly; fully. He gives them roundly to understand that their duty is submission.
4. Briskly; with speed. When the mind has brought itself to attention, it will be able to cope with difficulties and master them, and then it may go on you roundly. Locke.
5. Completely; to the purpose; vigorously; in earnest. Shak. Davies.

ROUND'NESS, n.

1. The quality of being round, circular, spherical, globular or cylindrical; circularity; sphericity; cylindrical form; rotundity; as, the roundness of the globe, of the orb of the sun, of a ball, of a bowl, &c. Watts.
2. Fullness; smoothness of flow; as, the roundness of a period.
3. Openness; plainness; boldness; positiveness; as, the roundness of an assertion.

ROUND'RIDGE, v.t. [round and ridge.]

In tillage, to form round ridges, by plowing. Edwards, W. Ind.

ROUND'ROB-IN, n. [Fr. rond and ruban. Todd.]

A written petition, memorial or remonstrance signed by names in a ring or circle. Forbes.

ROUNDS, n. [plur. See Round, n. No. 5.]

Round-top. [See Top.]

ROUND'-TOW-ER, n.

In Ireland, a building of a singular structure and of great antiquity. The round-towers are numerous, and from thirty to a hundred and thirty feet in hight, and from twenty to thirty feet in diameter. Elmes.

ROUSE, n. [rouz; D. roes, a bumper; G. rausch, drunkenness; rauschen, to rush, to rustle.]

A full glass of liquor; a bumper in honor of a health. [Obs.] Shak.

ROUSE, v.i.¹

1. To awake from sleep or repose. Morpheus rouses from his bed. Pope.
2. To be excited to thought or action from a state of indolence, sluggishness, languor or inattention.

ROUSE, v.i.²

In seamen's language, to pull together upon a cable, &c. without the assistance of tackles or other mechanical power. Mar. Dict.

ROUSE, v.t. [rouz; This word, written also arouse, seems to belong to the family of raise or rush. See Raise. In Sax. hrysan, to shake and to rush; Goth. hrisyan, to shake.]

1. To wake from sleep or repose. Gen. xlix.
2. To excite to thought or action from a state of idleness, languor, stupidity or inattention. Addison. Atterbury.
3. To put into action; to agitate. Blust'ring winds that rous'd the sea. Milton.
4. To drive a beast from his den or place of rest. Denham. Pope.

ROUS'ED, pp.

Awakened from sleep; excited to thought or action.