round robin

noun
1.
a sequence or series.
2.
a petition, remonstrance, or the like, having the signatures arranged in circular form so as to disguise the order of signing.
3.
a letter, notice, or the like, circulated from person to person in a group, often with individual comments being added by each.
4.
Sports. a tournament in which all of the entrants play each other at least once, failure to win a contest not resulting in elimination.
Also, round-robin.
Origin
1540-50
British Dictionary definitions for round-robin

round robin

noun
1.
a letter, esp a petition or protest, having the signatures in a circle in order to disguise the order of signing
2.
any letter or petition signed by a number of people
3.
(US & Canadian) a tournament, as in a competitive game or sport, in which each player plays against every other player
Word Origin and History for round-robin

round robin

n.

"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.

round-robin in Technology

algorithm
A scheduling algorithm in which processes are activated in a fixed cyclic order. Those which cannot proceed because they are waiting for some event (e.g. termination of a child process or an input/output operation) simply return control to the scheduler. The virtue of round-robin scheduling is its simplicity - only the processes themselves need to know what they are waiting for or how to tell if it has happened. However, if a process goes back to sleep just before the event for which it is waiting occurs then the event will not get handled until all the other processes have been activated.
Compare priority scheduling.
(1996-02-10)

Idioms and Phrases with round-robin

round robin

.
A petition or other document signed by several persons in sequence, so that no one can tell who was the first to sign it. For example, We decided to send a round robin to management to protest the new rules about work hours. This term originally referred to a grievance presented by seamen to their captain, called round because of the circular sequence of names, but the source of robin has been lost. [ Early 1700s ]
.
In sports, a tournament in which each player or team plays against all of the others in turn. For example, The club always holds a tennis round robin on the Fourth of July. [ Late 1800s ]