round up

gather people or animals together in one place

B2

What does "round sb up" mean?

To round up people or animals means to actively gather them together in one place, usually through effort, authority, or physical herding. It suggests that the person doing the rounding up has to seek others out and bring them together — they don't simply appear on their own. The phrase is commonly used in news reporting about police operations, farming contexts involving livestock, and everyday situations like a teacher collecting students or a parent gathering children before a meal. There is often a subtle sense of control or authority involved: the subject is directing or herding others, who may not be moving entirely of their own accord. In serious historical or political contexts — such as wartime arrests — 'round up' can carry heavy negative connotations, so it's worth being aware of the weight the phrase can carry depending on the situation.

Examples

How to use it

round up + people/animals

The most common pattern, where the object (people or animals) follows the particle directly.

The farmer rounded up the sheep before the storm arrived.

round + people/animals + up

With short noun phrases, the particle can naturally come after the object, and this split form is very common.

The coach rounded the players up for a team talk.

round + pronoun + up

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and particle — you cannot put it after 'up'.

The volunteers were scattered all over the building, so she rounded them up quickly.

be rounded up

The passive form is very natural and is especially common in news contexts, emphasising what happens to the people or animals rather than who is doing the rounding up.

Several gang members were rounded up following a tip-off from a witness.

modal + round up + people/animals

Round up is commonly used after modal verbs when suggesting, requesting, or planning the gathering of a group.

Could you round up the rest of the team? The meeting is about to start.

Common Collocations

round up suspectsround up cattleround up the childrenround up volunteersround up criminalsround up stragglers

Common Mistakes

Pronoun placement

When the object is a pronoun like 'them', 'him', or 'us', it must go between 'round' and 'up'. Placing it after 'up' is ungrammatical in English.

✗ The officer managed to round up them before midnight.
✓ The officer managed to round them up before midnight.
Confusing the two senses of 'round up'

'Round up' has a completely separate mathematical meaning — to increase a number to the nearest whole figure. If your object is a number rather than a person or animal, or if you see 'to the nearest...' in the sentence, that's a different meaning entirely.

✗ She rounded up the volunteers to the nearest ten.
✓ She rounded up the volunteers before the event started. / She rounded the total up to the nearest ten.
Using inanimate objects

In this sense, 'round up' only takes people or animals as its object. For collecting scattered objects like papers or bags, 'gather up' is the more natural choice.

✗ Can you round up all the chairs and put them in the corner?
✓ Can you gather up all the chairs and put them in the corner? / Can you round up all the stragglers and get them into the hall?

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works in both spoken and written English. Be aware that in historical or political contexts (e.g. referring to wartime arrests), 'round up' can sound very negative or dehumanising.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 'round up' always sound negative or threatening?

Not at all — it depends entirely on the context. In everyday situations, like a parent rounding up children for dinner or a manager rounding up colleagues for a meeting, it sounds completely neutral or even light-hearted. The negative connotation only tends to emerge in serious political or historical contexts, such as describing mass arrests.

Can 'round up' be used for just one person, or does it have to be a group?

It's most natural with a group, since the idea of herding or gathering implies more than one. However, it can be used for a single person in informal speech, especially when there's a sense of having to track them down — for example, 'I finally rounded him up and got him to sign the form.' It still sounds slightly informal in that use.

Is there a difference between 'round up' and 'gather up' when talking about people?

'Gather up' is more neutral and can apply to objects as well as people, with no particular sense of authority or effort involved. 'Round up' specifically implies actively seeking people or animals out and herding them together — there's more of a sense of control or purposeful effort, and it's more strongly associated with living things rather than objects.

Can I use 'round up' in the present progressive — for example, 'The police are rounding up the suspects'?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly natural — the present progressive works well when you want to describe an action that is happening at a specific moment. It becomes slightly unusual only if you're using it for very general or habitual statements, where the simple present would feel more natural.

Is 'round up' used in both British and American English?

Yes, it's widely used in both varieties and understood globally. The livestock and policing contexts are common to both, though you might notice it appearing slightly more in American English in cowboy or ranching contexts, given the historical association with cattle drives.

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