round trip

IPA/ˌraʊnd ˈtrɪp/
IPA/ˌraʊnd ˈtrɪp/

round trip — noun

1. travelling from where you are to another place and then returning; the outward a

1.nounB1
Definition

travelling from where you are to another place and then returning; the outward and homeward parts of the journey counted as one complete trip

Example

Keiko's round trip from Tokyo to Osaka took just under six hours by train.

round trip from + place + to + place

The drive to the cabin and back was a three-hour round trip.

Common collocations
  • make a round trip
  • daily round trip
  • round trip ticket
  • round trip fare
Synonyms
  • return journey

    more common in British English; slightly more formal

  • return trip

    commonly used in transport and ticketing contexts

  • two-way trip

    emphasises the contrast with a one-way journey; less frequent

Antonyms

Usage Note

Written as two separate words when used as a noun. When used as an adjective before a noun, it is hyphenated: a round-trip ticket, a round-trip fare.

Common Mistakes

I bought a round trip to Paris but I am not coming back.
I bought a one-way ticket to Paris.
A round trip includes the return journey by definition; if you are travelling in only one direction, use one-way.
The roundtrip took two hours.
The round trip took two hours.
As a noun, round trip is always written as two separate words.

Word family

  • round-trip
    adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A round trip is the standard term in American English for any journey that includes going out and coming back. Return journey is its closest British equivalent and sounds slightly more formal — you would see it on a UK rail website, while round trip appears on an American airline booking page. Return trip overlaps with both but is most often heard in the context of buying tickets or scheduling transport. There and back is the most casual option: it works in everyday speech ("It's only twenty minutes there and back") but feels out of place in formal writing. When you need a neutral, all-purpose term that works in any variety of English, round trip is the safest choice.

return journeyreturn trip ↗there and back

Common collocations

Nouns

  • round trip ticket
  • round trip journey
  • round trip fare

Phrases

  • make a round trip
  • a round trip of (distance/time)

Prepositions

  • round trip from
  • round trip to
  • round trip between

Etymology

English

Round trip combines round in its older sense of 'circular' or 'coming full circle' with trip meaning 'a journey.' The phrase emerged in early 19th-century American English, first appearing in the context of steamboat and railway travel, where a single ticket covered both the outward passage and the return — completing a figurative circle. Before this, travellers typically bought separate tickets for each leg of a journey.

First known use

1837

1837, in the meaning defined above