Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—R

Round

A watchman's beat. He starts from one point, and comes round again to the same place.

To walk the Round.
The lawyers used frequently to give interviews to their clients in the Round church; and “walking the Round” meant loitering about the Round church, under the hope of being hired for a witness.

Round

(To). To whisper. (Anglo-Saxon, runian; German, raunen, to whisper.) (See Rounded.)

“That lesson which I will round you in the ear - which I will whisper in your ear.” (Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress.

“France ... rounded in the ear with [by] ... commodity [self-interest] bath resolved to [on] a most base. peace.” —Shakespeare: King John, ii. 1.

And ner the feend he drough as nought ne were,
Ful privëly, and rounëd in his eere,
`Herkë, my brother, herkë, by thi faith ...

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 7132.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Round Dealing
Rouncival
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