round-robin

noun

round-rob·​in ˈrau̇nd-ˌrä-bən 

1

a

: a written petition, memorial, or protest to which the signatures are affixed in a circle so as not to indicate who signed first

b

: a statement signed by several persons

c

: something (such as a letter) sent in turn to the members of a group each of whom signs and forwards it sometimes after adding comment

2

: roundtable sense 1

3

: a tournament in which every contestant meets every other contestant in turn

4

: series, round

Synonyms

• seminar
• symposium
• conference
• panel

Examples of round-robin in a Sentence

a round-robin to discuss the epidemic of performance-enhancing drugs plaguing professional sports

Recent Examples on the Web

In April, World Sevens held its first event in Estoril, Portugal, which featured two days of round-robin group play among eight teams followed by a single-day knockout tournament. —Jason Clinkscales, Sportico.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Think structured round-robins, rotating roles in meetings, or paired discussions before group sharing. —Ruth Oh Reitmeier, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Saturday and Sunday mark the end of a year-long gauntlet across qualifying, regional and round-robin brackets. —Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025

Waterbury now faces host Southington, the third team in the round-robin, today at 5 p.m. —Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 13 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the name Robin

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for round-robin

• globin
• haemoglobin
• hemoglobin
• myoglobin

Kids Definition

round-robin

noun

ˈrau̇n-ˌdräb-ən

1

: a letter (as of protest) whose signers put their signatures in a circle so the receiver cannot tell who signed first

2

: a tournament in which every contestant plays once against every other contestant