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

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

Among the available packages are women’s tennis weekends instruction and round-robin play. —Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025

The bottom line: There’s a reason that the typical American sports fan still thinks a round-robin upset from 1980 is the most important hockey game ever played. —Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 25 July 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