round up

British  

verb

1. to gather (animals, suspects, etc) together

   to round ponies up

2. to raise (a number) to the nearest whole number or ten, hundred, or thousand above it Compare round down

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noun

1. the act of gathering together livestock, esp cattle, so that they may be branded, counted, or sold

2. any similar act of collecting or bringing together

   a roundup of today's news

3. a collection of suspects or criminals by the police, esp in a raid

round up Idioms  

1. Collect or gather in a body, as in We'll have to round up some more volunteers for the food drive, or The police rounded up all the suspects. This term comes from the West, where since the mid-1800s it has been used for collecting livestock by riding around the herd and driving the animals together. By about 1875 it was extended to other kinds of gathering together.

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Example Sentences

Alarmed by how many foreigners are sleeping in the streets, and begging for food and money, city officials have worked with immigration authorities to round up migrants.

From Washington Post

As agents were rounding up that first group, another group of 56 people came across three miles to the east in what’s known as South Levee.

From Washington Times

Then I rounded up the four most common responsibilities of an executive assistant, which appeared to be:

From New York Times

But they were rounded up because Ciudad Juarez residents were tired of migrants blocking border crossings or asking for money.

From Seattle Times

It accused authorities of abuse and using excessive force in rounding up migrants, saying that municipal police were questioning people in the street about their immigration status without cause.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bring in
• bring together
• herd