▪ I. ˈrounding, vbl. n.1
[f. round v.1 + -ing1.]
I. 1. a. The action of the vb. in trans. senses. Also with off, out, up.
| 1562–3 Act 5 Eliz. c. xi. §1 Clipping, washing, rounding, or filing..of any the proper Moneys or Coines of this Realme. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Arrondissement, The pieces, or shreds that are cut off in the rounding of a garment. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship 56 Rounding is giving the rope an additional turn after being closed. 1867 A. J. Ellis E.E. Pronunc. i. iii. §3. 161 When the labial passage is large and unconstrained by rounding or narrowing of the labial orifice. 1876 M. Whilldin Descr. Western Texas 16 It soon became evident that a place near us had been selected for ‘rounding up’. 1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 236/1 ‘Rounding’ applies to the back of the book, and is preliminary to backing. 1886 T. Frost Reminisc. Country Journalist xi. (1888) 121 Canning..was so extremely fastidious about the rounding of his periods. 1916 Daily News 6 Sept. 4 There can rarely..have been a better example of the insolence of Zabernism than the ‘rounding up’ of crowds of unoffending people at the stations. 1932 W. C. Holden Rollie Burns xiii. 172 Our rounding-up outfit was camped about eight miles from the Yellow House Canyon. 1936 Trans. Philol. Soc. 78 The rounding of ă to [ɔ] is in Middle English generally held to be a West Midland feature. 1947 A. Einstein Mus. Romantic Era xi. 127 The perfect rounding-out of the form, which from the musical standpoint is entirely self-contained. 1949 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 957/1 The cabin floor angle in the steeper types, such as Dakotas and Lancastrians, is changed as slowly as possible by slow rounding out and by landing with the tail just off the ground. 1961 E. A. Powdrill Vocab. Land Planning iii. 38 The private developer refers to most forms of peripheral development as ‘rounding-off’, whilst the planning authority merely contends that it is not, usually without saying what rounding-off really means. 1971 P. Gresswell Environment 132 Development will be severely restricted except for a reasonable amount of infilling and/or rounding off. 1977 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 1976 XXI. 176 At this level we want to state, for example, that a language has vowels which are opposed in rounding. |
b. Naut. with in, up (see quots.).
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Rounding-in, generally implies the act of pulling upon any rope which passes through one or more blocks, in a direction nearly horizontal. Ibid., Rounding-up..is expressed of a tackle which hangs in a perpendicular position, without sustaining or hoisting any weighty body: it is then the operation of pulling the blocks closer to each other, by means of the rope which passes through them. 1890 Clark Russell Marriage at Sea xiii, The sailors fell to rounding-in, as it is called, upon the main and main-topsail braces. |
c. The action of round v.1 4 d. Also with down, off, up (cf. round v.1 5 g, 6 e, 8 d).
| 1935 Shuster & Bedford Field Work in Math. iv. 14 In computation with approximate numbers, rounding off should be done by these rules. 1953 Proc. IRE XLI. 1270/1 Different calculations may require different methods of rounding in order to reduce the residual rounding error to an acceptably low level. 1963 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Decimal Currency iii. 18 in Parl. Papers 1962–3 (Cmnd. 2145) XI. 195 Outstanding balances would convert exactly on the changeover date, with no discrepancies which might or might not be explained by decimalisation roundings. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. vi. 249 The errors introduced by rounding and truncation are initially small, but sometimes their effect is amplified by subsequent operations. 1976 C. Birtwistle Electronic Calculator iii. 35, 23 is rounded down to 20 and 28 is rounded up to 30. Where is the critical point at which rounding down changes to rounding up? Obviously it is the half-way mark, 25. |
2. The action of the vb. in intrans. senses. Also with up.
| 1674 Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 90 Suppose..the Planets still holding their rooms, and holding on their roundings as they did before. 1732 Whaley Poems 48 With happy Roundings swell'd the Breast. 1862 Cornh. Mag. Nov. 646 ‘Rounding’ or treachery is always spoken of very indignantly, and often severely..punished. 1868 Verney Stone Edge x, Come, Roland, I'll none waste my time with such roundings. 1906 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Jan. 70 A little rounding up of the abdomen. |
3. attrib., as rounding-brass, rounding-iron, rounding-knife, rounding plane, etc.; rounding error = round-off error s.v. round-off n. 1.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 383/1 Rounding Knife, a short broad Blade like a Turkish scimitar, a thick back and short handle. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 232 The top and bottom rounding tools..are made of all diameters for plain cylindrical works. 1845 Youatt Dog iii. 83 When the time comes, the ears of the dog should be rounded; the size of the ear and of the head guiding the rounding-iron. 1851–4 Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts (1866) I. 838/2 When quite dry, the proper width is given to the brim by means of a rounding-brass, or gauge. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 44/1 The backing-machine is worked by the hand, and its action is somewhat similar to that of the rounding-machine. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 732/2 Rounding plane. 1948 Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation III. 79 The operator is concerned with numerous questions of digital accuracy and the accumulation of rounding errors. 1962 A. Battersby Guide to Stock Control 115 Allowing for rounding errors, the stockholding cost at ½ per cent would be {pstlg}15. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 389 Different versions of the same tool, known as a stail-engine, witchet, or rounding and tapering plane. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. vi. 249 The first source is called rounding error, and is due to the fact that only a finite set of all of the real numbers can be represented in the computer as floating-point numbers. |
b. So rounding-up machine, rounding tool; rounding-off error = round-off error.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 831/2 A rounding up machine can shape 100 pairs of soles per hour. 1884 Britten Watch & Clockm. 125 The fraises do not supersede the Rounding Up Tool. 1945 J. von Neumann in B. Randell Origins Digital Computers (1973) 362 A reasonable precision for many differential equation problems is given..by keeping the relative rounding-off errors below 10- 8. 1974 W. T. Welford Aberrations Symmetrical Optical Syst. vi. 84 The difference between them is to be calculated to a fraction of a wavelength; this may make a heavy demand on the computer when rounding-off errors are allowed for, since the computer word length may correspond to only about eight decimal digits. |
II. 4. A rounded edge or surface; a curvature; a curved part or outline; † a tonsure.
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 70 He shoulde be dyscryued by hys rounding and his eare marke. a 1583 in Halliwell Rara Mathem. (1841) 38 That Glasse woulde make the face..narrowe accordinge vnto the roundinge of the glasse. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiii. 226 A Tooth of Steel with such Roundings and Hollows in the bottom of it as I intended to have Hollows and Roundings upon my Work. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 149 Never did I behold such..symmetry, such roundings of angles. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 309 A mortise..from within an inch of the rounding to an inch and and an half of the bottom. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §602 The rounding of the chimney breast. a 1842 Sir C. Bell Anat. & Phil. Express. (1872) 223 He makes roundings merely; he is incapable of representing the elegant curved outline of beauty. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 8/3 The cork disc is driven..down into the rounding outside the bottle top. |
5. Naut. A service of small rope or cordage, wound round a cable, spar, etc., to prevent chafing.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. i. 115 An iron chain, or good rounding,..to secure them [sc. cables] from being rubbed by the foulness of the ground. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) Fourrer, to serve the cables as with plat, rounding, keckling, &c. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iii, This chafing gear consists of..roundings, battens, and service of all kinds. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Mat, Rounding is now used instead of mats, it being neater and holding less water. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 229 Take a piece of..stout rounding to the topmast. |
† 6. pl. Some part of a woman's head-dress. Obs.
| 1732 Lond. Mag. Oct. 351/1 The Head-Dresses, with the Peeks, Lappets, and Roundings. |
7. pl. Clippings; parings.
| 1883 Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. ii. 300/2 ‘Wet’ materials:..roundings of hides previously limed. 1889 Charity Organis. Rev. Jan. 9 [They] are forced..to sell the ‘roundings’ (inferior portions)..at a considerable loss. |
▪ II. ˈrounding, vbl. n.2
[Later form of rouning vbl. n.: cf. round v.2]
Whispering, private talk.
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 85 Within the Churche the seruice to encomber With their lewde barking, rounding, din and cry. Ibid. (1570) 208 They flatter their lorde with wordes fayre and gay And vayne roundinges. 1609 Ld. Balmerinoch Narr. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials II. 586 Then, be his Ma. countenance, and some rounding that past betuixt his Ma. and Sir A. Hay, I beganne to be in some suspicione. |
▪ III. ˈrounding, ppl. a.
[f. round v.1 + -ing2.]
1. Surrounding, encircling.
| 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metam. lxvi, All with their poyson like a rounding ring; The good encombred Knight encompassing. 1830 Tennyson Mariana 44 For leagues no other tree did mark The level waste, the rounding gray. |
2. Assuming or having a circular or convex form; tending towards roundness.
| 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 24 Upon which rounding Point stand black Rocks. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4510/7 The Hoy Burthen 9 or 10 Tun,..with a clean Tail, a rounding Wale. 1786 Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 94 Turning..the clean fresh gravel to the top, levelling it even in a rounding manner. 1869 Whittier Norembega 14 Unbroken over swamp and hill The rounding shadow lay. |
b. In predicative and quasi-adv. use.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xv. ¶2 It hath two of its Fore-Angles..cut off either straight or rounding, according to the pleasure of the Work-man. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 155 You..fill them with Mold.., which you lay rounding in the Middle like an Ass's Back. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §80 In some degree rounding, like the Rockers of a cradle. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 499 If it [sc. a board] should be obviously higher..at the edges from being ‘cast and rounding’. 1858 Skyring's Builder's Prices 4 Care should be taken to allow for the remedy of that defect, by laying the joist rounding. |
3. Circular, circuitous; moving round.
| 1711 Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4), Caracol, as Wheel by Caracol; used only among the Horse, and is a Serpentine or Rounding Motion of Wheeling. 1728 Mallet Excursion Wks. 1759 I. 101 Where these huge globes Sail undisturb'd, a rounding voyage each. 1883 Whittier Our Country 35 Alone, the rounding century finds Thy liberal soil by free hands tilled. |