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to round off

to round off

3.8
To make a sharp edge or corner smooth and curved
  • phrasal verb
  • /raʊnd ɔf/
translation icon : redondear
  • And finally, using the fillet tool to round off the sharp corners!

Examples

  • Hogging out the majority of the wood was a nice first step, but I have to carve and shape round off all of these tines.

  • He carefully rounded off the corners of the paper to avoid any cuts.

  • When eating this titan parsley, there's no doubt that it's flat-leaf, but it's as if the sharp edge has been rounded off.

    Blog text (16)
  • I used a sandpaper to round off the sharp edges of the wooden table.

  • To make the sculpture safe to touch, she decided to round off all the jagged parts.

Synonyms

to round
vsto round off
76 2.1

Make something have a curved shape

finish surfaces to give smooth rounded edges rather than overall rounding
to curve
vsto round off
22 2.8

To bend into a smooth, rounded shape

work on surfaces to create smooth rounded edges rather than changing direction
to fair
vsto round off
  • Specialized
1 9.9

To join parts so their surfaces form a smooth line

focus on creating smooth rounded edges rather than blending seams
to round out
vsto round off
4.5

Make something smooth by removing sharp edges

shape and finish surfaces so edges become smooth and rounded

Antonyms

35 2.1

To make the edge or tip of something thin and able to cut, like a knife

How Smooth

to polish
46 1.1
to round off
3.8
to sand
27 3.5
to file
7 5.1

Surface Forms

round off infinitive
rounded off past participle
rounding off present participle
rounds off third person singular

Morphology

round + off

The verb 'round' (make more rounded) maps metaphorically onto making a number 'round' (without decimals), and the particle 'off' conveys a sense of completion or reduction, so a learner who knows the constituents can plausibly infer a numeric 'making round' action. However, the precise numeric operation (nearest whole number or to a zero) and the conventional use in mathematics is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Round off comes from carpenters and sculptors who smooth sharp corners with sandpaper or a plane until the edge becomes round and the rough part is taken off. That's why it means 'to make a smooth edge'.