Dictionary

last roundup en · NOUN

Etymology

An allusion to herding of cattle into a group.

Meanings

1. (US, idiomatic) A final gathering of people or items; the final event in a series of events involving a group or organization.
   • This might have been the last roundup for Papelbon, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Big Papi, J.D. Drew, Miss Heidi, and several of the others you’ve loved all these years. 2011 September 29, Dan Shaughnessy, “Baseball: Red Sox make unwanted history”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 01 Nov 2021:
   • [B]y the 1964-65 season, the number of adult westerns had dwindled to seven. That was the genre's last roundup. 2003 March 26, Eric Gwinn, “Television: Sun shines on cops, doctors, but has long set on cowboys”, in Chicago Tribune, retrieved 01 Nov 2021:
   • It's last roundup time, my fellow grocery patrons. On Saturday, the receipt redemption programs operated by Giant Food and Safeway ended after a 5 1/2-month run. 1998 March 2, Bob Levey, “Last Week to Send Your Grocery Receipts”, in Washington Post, retrieved 01 Nov 2021:
2. (US, euphemistic, idiomatic) Death.
   • So Duke is 66. But don't kid yourself that he's headed for the last roundup—even though it may have looked that way a while back when he surrendered a lung to cancer. 1973 December 30, Guy Flatley, “Cowboy or Cop, Wayne Never Wanes”, in New York Times, retrieved 01 Nov 2021:
   • [H]e swears that Jelf is going to beat him to the last roundup in the sky. 1977, Bill Reed, Dogod, Thomas Nelson (Australia) (reprinted 2015 by Reed Independent)
   • [N]ot everyone who runs with the bulls is young, male, drunk and stupid. […] It also is a way for people of a certain age to do something extraordinary before their last roundup. 2006 July 8, “Bullish on life”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 01 Nov 2021:

Forms