roundabout

Etymology

round + about [from early 20th c.]

adj

1. Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.
   [S]he fled, running like a deer, doubling and turning through alleys and back streets until by a very roundabout road she reached her own room. 1896, Robert Barr, “chapter9”, in From Whose Bourne
   Mr. Rather flew to the area in a roundabout fashion, first landing in Bahrain, from there flying to Islamabad and then heading to Kabul by land. 2001 December 3, Jim Rutenberg, “Rather Reports Another War”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-04-03
   Descartes is compelled to fall back upon a curious roundabout argument to prove that there is a world. He must first prove that God exists, and then argue that God would not deceive us into thinking that it exists when it does not. 2011, 50 Classic Philosophy Books, Golgotha Press
2. Encircling; enveloping; comprehensive.

noun

1. (chiefly UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, Australia and sometimes US) A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.
2. (chiefly Britain) A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus.
3. A fairground carousel.
4. A detour.
5. A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century.
6. (archaic) A round dance.

verb

1. To play on a roundabout (carousel)
2. To travel round roundabouts
3. To talk in a roundabout, indirect manner