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round up meaning and examples

2025-09-28

Meaning

The phrasal verb “round up” has several meanings depending on context:

  1. To gather people, animals, or things together – usually into one place.
  2. To increase a number to the nearest whole or convenient figure (mathematical meaning).
  3. To capture or arrest a group of people (police/military use).

Grammar and Usage

  • Verb type: Phrasal verb (transitive, separable).

  • Structure:

    • round up + object → "They rounded up the cattle."
    • round + object + up → "She rounded the price up to ten dollars."

Variations

  • round up (animals/people) → gather or herd.
  • round up (a number) → adjust upwards in mathematics.
  • be rounded up → passive form, often used for arrests or gathering.

Common Phrases

  • round up the usual suspects
  • round up the cattle
  • round up the children
  • round up the figures

Collocations

  • round up cattle
  • round up suspects
  • round up figures
  • round up stragglers
  • round up prices

Examples

  1. The farmer rounded up the sheep before the storm hit.
  2. Police rounded up the suspects after the robbery.
  3. Let’s round up the volunteers so we can start.
  4. The teacher rounded up the students for a group photo.
  5. The cashier rounded the total up to the nearest dollar.
  6. Please round the figure up to the next whole number.
  7. They rounded up the last few stragglers before leaving.
  8. The accountant rounded the numbers up to simplify the report.
  • Gather
  • Collect
  • Assemble
  • Herd
  • Summon
  • Arrest

Antonym

  • Scatter
  • Disperse
  • Spread out
  • Round down (mathematical opposite)