go around the houses

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To discuss or deal with something in a roundabout or indirect way

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Thảo luận hoặc giải quyết một vấn đề theo cách vòng vo hoặc gián tiếp

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to physically go around houses
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The committee spent hours going around the houses before reaching a decision

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “go around the houses” mean?

To discuss or deal with something in a roundabout or indirect way Literally: to physically go around houses

Is “go around the houses” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.