round-robin

Noun

round robin (plural round robins)

1. (also, attributive) A document (usually containing a complaint or petition) originally with the signatures arranged in a circle, and later often alphabetically, to disguise the order of signing and to indicate that the signatories are collectively responsible for it.
   • This being approved of, it vvas unanimouſly reſolved on, and the undervvritten Petition dravvn up and ſigned by the vvhole Company in the Manner of vvhat they call a Round Robin, that is, the Names vvere vvrit in a Circle, to avoid all Appearance of Pre-eminence, and leaſt any Perſon ſhould be...1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “Of Captain [Henry] Anstis, and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], →OCLC, pages...
2. (also, attributive) A letter which is reproduced and sent to several people; specifically, one containing personal news sent at a particular time of year, often Christmas; a circular letter.
3. (also, attributive) A letter or piece of writing which is circulated among members of a group, to which each person makes a contribution before sending it to another person; also, a packet of letters circulated regularly in a fixed order among a group (often family members), whereby each person replaces their previous contribution with a new letter, and then sends the packet to the next recipient.
   • a round-robin novel

   Synonyms:

   circle letter

4. (also, attributive) A form of trading involving a packet of items which is circulated among members of a group, whereby each person take the items they want and replaces them with items of similar value, and then sends the packet to the next recipient.
   • Stamp collectors sometimes exchange stamps with each other using a round-robin method.
5. (also, attributive, figuratively) A long, often tedious, list or piece of writing; a laundry list, a litany.
   • Think only what your feelings would be if you heard a wretch deliberately perjure himself in support of an infamous accusation, so remote from all fact, so smooth and homogeneous in its untruth, such a round robin of mere lies, that you knew not which to begin with?1816, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “[Appendix, Containing Comments and Essays.] Appendix C.”, in The Statesman’s Manual; or The Bible the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight: […], London: […]...
6. (also, attributive) A method of making use of several similar subsystems, assigning tasks to each of them in turn (for example, sending data to a destination down several communication links in turn to achieve greater combined speed).

See all 20 meanings of round robin