go-around

1 of 2

noun

1
: runaround
gave me the go-around
2
a
: round
reached an agreement during the first go-around
b
: a heated argument or struggle
had a real go-around with her about it
3
: an act or instance of going around (as in an air traffic pattern)

go around

2 of 2

verb

went around; gone around; going around; goes around

intransitive verb

1
a
: to pass from place to place : go here and there
b
: to have currency : circulate
an amusing story is going around
2
: to satisfy demand : fill the need
not enough jobs to go around

Examples of go-around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Everything about Baldwin’s style is too much; often one feels, in his diction, his elaborate, Jamesian syntactical structures, his sudden shifts of tone, that if the English language has a volume dial that goes up to ten, Baldwin is hot-wiring a go-around to push it to eleven or twelve. Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025 That was the first go-around with this argument. Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
Lists going around social media in the wake of the Minneapolis and Kirk shootings incorrectly make a correlation between mass shooters and transgender Americans, often using false information about the shooters' identities. Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025 And then the tornadoes went around Dodge City. Outside Online, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for go-around

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1912, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Verb

circa 1520, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of go-around was circa 1520

Browse Nearby Words

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Go-around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go-around. Accessed 27 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!