- (North American English traffic circle, rotary)a place where two or more roads meet, forming a circle that all traffic must go around in the same direction
- At the roundabout, take the second exit.
- When entering a roundabout, give way to any traffic already on it.
- Leave the roundabout at the second exit.
- There was a lot of traffic on the roundabout.
Wordfindersee also mini-roundaboutTopics Transport by car or lorryb2Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- (North American English merry-go-round)a round platform for children to play on in a park, etc. that is pushed round while the children are sitting on itTopics Games and toysc1
- (British English) (also merry-go-round British and North American English, carousel especially in North American English)a round platform with model horses, cars, etc. that turns around and around and that children ride on at a fairground
Idioms
swings and roundabouts
- (British English, informal) used to say that there are advantages and disadvantages whatever decision you make
- If you earn more, you pay more in tax, so it's all swings and roundabouts.
- What you gain on the swings you may lose on the roundabouts.
Check pronunciation:
roundabout