回る
ma-wa-ru
When a job comes around to you, it really went around
The picture Something turns around a center. Turning touches place after place, and one full turn brings it back to you. 回る turns by itself; 回す is a hand turning it.
Where the picture shows up in 回る
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Turning in place
洗濯機がまだ回っています。
sentakuki ga mada mawatte imasu
The washing machine is still running.
The drum of the washing machine spins in place around its axle.
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Going round from place to place
今日は三つの店を回ります。
kyō wa mittsu no mise o mawari-masu
Today I am doing the rounds of three shops.
Footsteps trace a full loop on the map, joining three shops and coming back.
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Spreading through the body
お酒が回ってきました。
o-sake ga mawatte kimashita
The drink is starting to hit me.
The drink runs a lap through the bloodstream, out to the fingertips and toes.
The sake travels a full circuit of the body until it reaches your fingertips.
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The turn comes round to me
その仕事は私に回ってきました。
sono shigoto wa watashi ni mawatte kimashita
That job came round to me.
A document going desk to desk comes round the circle and lands on your desk.
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The world spins in front of you
目が回るほど忙しいです。
me ga mawaru hodo isogashii desu
I am so busy my head is spinning.
The ceiling and walls swing round in front of your eyes and you cannot find your centre.
All of it in one picture
回る is one circle drawn around a centre. The drum turns in place and the machine is running; your feet trace a loop past three shops and you are doing the rounds; the drink laps the bloodstream and it is getting to you; a document completes the circle onto your desk and the turn has come to you; the ceiling swings past your eyes and your head is spinning. Turning means touching one place after another — and it also means that when the loop closes, it comes back to you, where it started.