Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
round robin \round" rob"in\, round-robin \round"-rob"in\(round" r[o^]b"[i^]n), n.
Any series or sequence of actions.
A document circulated from one person to another in a group, often with comments added by each recipient.
A petition or similar document, in which the signatures are arranged in circular form in order to conceal the order of signing.
(Sports) A tournament in which each contestant plays against every other contestant at least once; a failure to win any contest does not result in elimination from the tournament. Contrasted with elimination tournament
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"petition or complaint signed in a circle to disguise the order in which names were affixed and prevent ringleaders from being identified," 1730, originally in reference to sailors and frequently identified as a nautical term. As a kind of tournament in which each player plays the others, it is recorded from 1895.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 The part of a tournament in which every player or team competes against each of the others in turn. 2 A petition signed in a circular fashion to disguise the order in which it was done. 3 A letter, with copies to multiple recipients, usually at Christmastime and often enclosed with a card, giving family news of interest to the sender. 4 (context online gaming English) A method of dividing loot amongst a party of players by having the game assign in turn loot to a player or an enemy corpse to loot to a player. 5 (context philately English) A form of trade, where collectors send a packet of stamps to the next person on a list, who then take the stamps they want and replace with similar valued stamps, and subsequently pass on the packet to the next person on the list, ultimately returning to the original sender. n. 1 The part of a tournament in which every player or team competes against each of the others in turn. 2 A petition signed in a circular fashion to disguise the order in which it was done. 3 A letter, with copies to multiple recipients, usually at Christmastime and often enclosed with a card, giving family news of interest to the sender. 4 (context online gaming English) A method of dividing loot amongst a party of players by having the game assign in turn loot to a player or an enemy corpse to loot to a player. 5 (context philately English) A form of trade, where collectors send a packet of stamps to the next person on a list, who then take the stamps they want and replace with similar valued stamps, and subsequently pass on the packet to the next person on the list, ultimately returning to the original sender.
WordNet
n. a tournament in which every contestant plays every other contestant
a letter signed by a number of people