Other forms: roundabouts
A roundabout is the circular junction where cars go around a middle island. A busy roundabout, take the roundabout, third exit at the roundabout.
Traffic gives way to the right in Britain and moves clockwise, and the design keeps vehicles moving where lights would stop them. Britain has an unusual number of them, including the famous ones made of several small roundabouts joined together. A roundabout is also a merry-go-round in a playground. As an adjective it means indirect: a roundabout way of saying it, swings and roundabouts.
1nounroundaboutA circular junction where cars go around a middle island.
“Take the roundabout and about the third exit.”
2adjectiveindirectIndirect.
“It was a roundabout way of saying roughly nothing.”
roundabout is a junction or a going round.
Round plus about, as a noun from the early twentieth century. The traffic sense and the fairground sense grew from the same plain description of going round.
From round + about early 20.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Travel & Transport, Games & Toys, Directions & Position