Knight n.
 1. A young servant or follower; a military attendant. [Obs.]
 2. (a) In feudal times, a man-at-arms serving on horseback and admitted to a certain military rank with special ceremonies, including an oath to protect the distressed, maintain the right, and live a stainless life. (b) One on whom knighthood, a dignity next below that of baronet, is conferred by the sovereign, entitling him to be addressed as Sir; as, Sir John. [Eng.] Hence: (c) A champion; a partisan; a lover. “Give this ring to my true knight.” Shak “In all your quarrels will I be your knight.”
    Knights, by their oaths, should right poor ladies' harms.   --Shak.
 Note: ☞ Formerly, when a knight's name was not known, it was customary to address him as Sir Knight.  The rank of a knight is not hereditary.
 3. A piece used in the game of chess, usually bearing a horse's head.
 4. A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack. [Obs.]
 Carpet knight. See under Carpet.
 Knight of industry. See Chevalier d'industrie, under Chevalier.
 Knight of Malta, Knight of Rhodes, Knight of St. John of Jerusalem. See Hospitaler.
 Knight of the post, one who gained his living by giving false evidence on trials, or false bail; hence, a sharper in general. --Nares. “A knight of the post, . . . quoth he, for so I am termed; a fellow that will swear you anything for twelve pence.” --Nash.
 Knight of the shire, in England, one of the representatives of a county in Parliament, in distinction from the representatives of cities and boroughs.
 Knights commanders, Knights grand cross, different classes of the Order of the Bath. See under Bath, and Companion. Knights of labor, a secret organization whose professed purpose is to secure and maintain the rights of workingmen as respects their relations to their employers. [U. S.]
 Knights of Pythias, a secret order, founded in Washington, D. C., in 1864, for social and charitable purposes.
 Knights of the Round Table, knights belonging to an order which, according to the legendary accounts, was instituted by the mythical King Arthur. They derived their common title from the table around which they sat on certain solemn days.


 Round, a.
 1. Having every portion of the surface or of the circumference equally distant from the center; spherical; circular; having a form approaching a spherical or a circular shape; orbicular; globular; as, a round ball. “The big, round tears.”
 Upon the firm opacous globe
 Of this round world.   --Milton.
 2. Having the form of a cylinder; cylindrical; as, the barrel of a musket is round.
 3. Having a curved outline or form; especially, one like the arc of a circle or an ellipse, or a portion of the surface of a sphere; rotund; bulging; protuberant; not angular or pointed; as, a round arch; round hills. “Their round haunches gored.”
 4. Full; complete; not broken; not fractional; approximately in even units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.; -- said of numbers.
    Pliny put a round number near the truth, rather than the fraction.   --Arbuthnot.
 5. Not inconsiderable; large; hence, generous; free; as, a round price.
    Three thousand ducats; 'tis a good round sum.   --Shak.
    Round was their pace at first, but slackened soon.   --Tennyson.
 6. Uttered or emitted with a full tone; as, a round voice; a round note.
 7. Phonetics Modified, as a vowel, by contraction of the lip opening, making the opening more or less round in shape; rounded; labialized; labial. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 11.
 8. Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; unqualified; not mincing; as, a round answer; a round oath. “The round assertion.”
    Sir Toby, I must be round with you.   --Shak.
 9. Full and smoothly expanded; not defective or abrupt; finished; polished; -- said of style, or of authors with reference to their style. [Obs.]
    In his satires Horace is quick, round, and pleasant.   --Peacham.
 10. Complete and consistent; fair; just; -- applied to conduct.
    Round dealing is the honor of man's nature.   --Bacon.
 At a round rate, rapidly. --Dryden.
 In round numbers, approximately in even units, tens, hundreds, etc.; as, a bin holding 99 or 101 bushels may be said to hold in round numbers 100 bushels.
 Round bodies Geom., the sphere right cone, and right cylinder.
 Round clam Zool., the quahog.
 Round dance one which is danced by couples with a whirling or revolving motion, as the waltz, polka, etc.
 Round game, a game, as of cards, in which each plays on his own account.
 Round hand, a style of penmanship in which the letters are formed in nearly an upright position, and each separately distinct; -- distinguished from running hand.
 Round robin. [Perhaps F. round round + ruban ribbon.] (a) A written petition, memorial, remonstrance, protest, etc., the signatures to which are made in a circle so as not to indicate who signed first.  “No round robins signed by the whole main deck of the Academy or the Porch.” --De Quincey. (b) Zool. The cigar fish.
 Round shot, a solid spherical projectile for ordnance.
 Round Table, the table about which sat King Arthur and his knights. See Knights of the Round Table, under Knight.
 Round tower, one of certain lofty circular stone towers, tapering from the base upward, and usually having a conical cap or roof, which crowns the summit, -- found chiefly in Ireland. They are of great antiquity, and vary in heigh from thirty-five to one hundred and thiry feet.
 Round trot, one in which the horse throws out his feet roundly; a full, brisk, quick trot. --Addison.
 Round turn Naut., one turn of a rope round a timber, a belaying pin, etc.
 To bring up with a round turn, to stop abruptly. [Colloq.]
 Syn: -- Circular; spherical; globular; globase; orbicular; orbed; cylindrical; full; plump; rotund.