go-around
noun
an act or instance of going around something, as a circle, course, or traffic pattern, and returning to the starting point.
go-around
American
[goh-uh-round]
/ ˈgoʊ əˌraʊnd /
Also
go-round
noun
-
an act or instance of going around something, as a circle, course, or traffic pattern, and returning to the starting point.
-
a series or pattern of occurrences; round.
After the third go-around of questions, the witness was released.
go around
British
verb
-
(adverb) to move about
-
to frequent the society (of a person or group of people)
she went around with older men
-
(adverb) to be sufficient
are there enough sweets to go round?
-
to circulate (in)
measles is going round the school
-
(preposition) to be actively and constantly engaged in (doing something)
she went around caring for the sick
-
to be long enough to encircle
will that belt go round you?
go around
Idioms
-
Also, go round . Satisfy a demand or need, as in Is there enough food to go around? [Mid-1800s]
-
Same as go about , def. 1.
-
go around with . Same as go with , def. 1.
-
. Engage in excited but useless activity. For example, Bill ran around in circles trying organize us but to no avail . This idiom was first recorded in 1933. For what goes around comes around , see under full circle .
Etymology
Origin of go-around
First recorded in 1890–95; noun use of verb phrase go around
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pilots on the Mesa Airlines flight decided that the separation between their craft and the one taking off was insufficient and initiated a go-around, where a landing is aborted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
The first go-around of vaccines is usually complete when a baby is 2 months old.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025
Captain Heard took the controls and performed a "go-around" where the plane climbs higher, does a big circle and tries again.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025
Just 24 hours before the deadly collision, a military helicopter came too close to a different regional jet, which then performed a sudden go-around, according to a list of incidents and accidents from the FAA.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
Starting at the very beginning, I told him everything that had happened, from my first go-around with the monkeys until I had sailed over the rail fence.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
“There’s just a bevy of cases that say you can’t just go around the Senate rules or the House rules when you put somebody in contempt,” Brand said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
There’s only so much capital to go around.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
"If she's feeling really over-stimulated I have to like go around like turning off all the main lights," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
"They've even put obstacles in our way while we're trying to go around trying to save animals. I found 13 cats abandoned in one house who were bathing in their own faeces."
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
I’ve thought about it a lot, and she just can’t go around breeding dangerous unknown superchicken mixes that will have to get killed like Buffy’s chicks.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
