round ta·ble /ˈraʊn(d)ˌtebəl/
 圓桌會議


 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.


 Ta·ble n.
 1. A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab.
    A bagnio paved with fair tables of marble.   --Sandys.
 2. A thin, flat piece of wood, stone, metal, or other material, on which anything is cut, traced, written, or painted; a tablet; pl. a memorandum book. “The names . . . written on his tables.”
    And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.   --Ex. xxxiv. 1.
 And stand there with your tables to glean
 The golden sentences.   --Beau. & Fl.
 3. Any smooth, flat surface upon which an inscription, a drawing, or the like, may be produced. “Painted in a table plain.”
    The opposite walls are painted by Rubens, which, with that other of the Infanta taking leave of Don Philip, is a most incomparable table.   --Evelyn.
    St. Antony has a table that hangs up to him from a poor peasant.   --Addison.
 4. Hence, in a great variety of applications: A condensed statement which may be comprehended by the eye in a single view; a methodical or systematic synopsis; the presentation of many items or particulars in one group; a scheme; a schedule. Specifically: --
 (a) Bibliog. A view of the contents of a work; a statement of the principal topics discussed; an index; a syllabus; a synopsis; as, a table of contents.
 (b) Chem. A list of substances and their properties; especially, the a list of the elementary substances with their atomic weights, densities, symbols, etc.; the periodic table of the elements.
 (c) Mathematics, Science and Technology  Any collection and arrangement in a condensed form of many particulars or values, for ready reference, as of weights, measures, currency, specific gravities, etc.; also, a series of numbers following some law, and expressing particular values corresponding to certain other numbers on which they depend, and by means of which they are taken out for use in computations; as, tables of logarithms, sines, tangents, squares, cubes, etc.; annuity tables; interest tables; astronomical tables; a table of logarithms, etc.
 (d) Palmistry The arrangement or disposition of the lines which appear on the inside of the hand.
 Mistress of a fairer table
 Hath not history for fable.   --B. Jonson.
 5. An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board, or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in eating, writing, or working.
 We may again
 Give to our tables meat.   --Shak.
    The nymph the table spread.   --Pope.
 6. Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare; entertainment; as, to set a good table.
 7. The company assembled round a table.
    I drink the general joy of the whole table.   --Shak.
 8. Anat. One of the two, external and internal, layers of compact bone, separated by diploe, in the walls of the cranium.
 9. Arch. A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is required, so as to make it decorative. See Water table.
 10. Games (a) The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon and draughts are played. (b) One of the divisions of a backgammon board; as, to play into the right-hand table. (c) pl. The games of backgammon and of draughts. [Obs.]
 This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice,
 That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice.   --Shak.
 11. Glass Manuf. A circular plate of crown glass.
    A circular plate or table of about five feet diameter weighs on an average nine pounds.   --Ure.
 12. Jewelry The upper flat surface of a diamond or other precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.
 13. Persp. A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and perpendicular to the horizon; -- called also perspective plane.
 14. Mach. The part of a machine tool on which the work rests and is fastened.
 Bench table, Card table, Communion table, Lord's table, etc. See under Bench, Card, etc.
 Raised table Arch. & Sculp., a raised or projecting member of a flat surface, large in proportion to the projection, and usually rectangular, -- especially intended to receive an inscription or the like.
 Roller table Horology, a flat disk on the arbor of the balance of a watch, holding the jewel which rolls in and out of the fork at the end of the lever of the escapement.
 Round table. See Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
 Table anvil, a small anvil to be fastened to a table for use in making slight repairs.
 Table base. Arch. Same as Water table.
 Table bed, a bed in the form of a table.
 Table beer, beer for table, or for common use; small beer.
 Table bell, a small bell to be used at table for calling servants.
 Table cover, a cloth for covering a table, especially at other than mealtimes.
 Table diamond, a thin diamond cut with a flat upper surface.
 Table linen, linen tablecloth, napkins, and the like.
 Table money Mil. or Naut., an allowance sometimes made to officers over and above their pay, for table expenses.
 Table rent O. Eng. Law, rent paid to a bishop or religious, reserved or appropriated to his table or housekeeping. --Burrill.
 Table shore Naut., a low, level shore.
 Table talk, conversation at table, or at meals.
 Table talker, one who talks at table.
 Table tipping, Table turning, certain movements of tables, etc., attributed by some to the agency of departed spirits, and by others to the development of latent vital or spriritual forces, but more commonly ascribed to the muscular force of persons in connection with the objects moved, or to physical force applied otherwise.
 Tables of a girder or Tables of a chord Engin., the upper and lower horizontal members.
 To lay on the table, in parliamentary usage, to lay, as a report, motion, etc., on the table of the presiding officer, -- that is, to postpone the consideration of, by a vote; -- also called to table .  It is a tactic often used with the intention of postponing consideration of a motion indefinitely, that is, to kill the motion.
 To serve tables Script., to provide for the poor, or to distribute provisions for their wants. --Acts vi. 2.
 To turn the tables, to change the condition or fortune of contending parties; -- a metaphorical expression taken from the vicissitudes of fortune in gaming.
 Twelve tables Rom. Antiq., a celebrated body of Roman laws, framed by decemvirs appointed 450 years before Christ, on the return of deputies or commissioners who had been sent to Greece to examine into foreign laws and institutions. They consisted partly of laws transcribed from the institutions of other nations, partly of such as were altered and accommodated to the manners of the Romans, partly of new provisions, and mainly, perhaps, of laws and usages under their ancient kings. --Burrill.


 round table
      n 1: a meeting of peers for discussion and exchange of views; "a
           roundtable on the future of computing" [syn: roundtable,
            round-table conference]
      2: the legendary circular table for King Arthur and his knights
         [syn: King Arthur's Round Table]