Definition of "roundhouse" [round•house]

• A circular building for housing and switching locomotives. (noun)
• Nautical A cabin on the after part of the quarterdeck of a ship. (noun)
• Games A meld of four kings and four queens in pinochle. (noun)
• Slang A punch or swing delivered with a sweeping sidearm movement. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I turned, and saw for the first time that at the end of the quarter-deck stood what is called a roundhouse, a small cabin, from which the sounds in question proceeded."
• "The first, vastly enjoyable sign that Alicia is something other than mindlessly supportive comes after the requisite press conference, when she gives him the kind of roundhouse slap such husbands so richly deserve."
• "Opened in 1925, the old Stateville is famous for having a Panopticon, a type of "roundhouse" prison designed by British philosopher Jeremy Bentham."