To make something round; to roll or curl something up (e.g. roll paper into a ball, curl up one's body).
紙を丸めてゴミ箱に捨てた。
I rolled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash.
赤ちゃんが布団の中で体を丸めて寝ている。
The baby is curled up and sleeping in the futon.
包装紙を丸めて小さな筒を作った。
I rolled the wrapping paper into a small tube.
To cajole, deceive, or charm someone into doing what you want; to talk someone into something (often with a sense of tricking or smoothing over).
営業マンは客を丸めて高い商品を買わせた。
The salesperson tricked the customer into buying an expensive product.
彼は上司を丸めてプロジェクトの承認を取り付けた。
He sweet-talked his boss into approving the project.
ミスを丸めて済ませようとするのは良くない。
It's not good to try to explain away a mistake.
To round off numbers (e.g. rounding a fraction or decimal to a certain precision).
小数点以下第二位で丸めると、3.456は3.46になる。
Rounded to two decimal places, 3.456 becomes 3.46.
会計では端数を円単位に丸めることがある。
In accounting, fractions are sometimes rounded to the nearest yen.
To shave one's head (often used in contexts like entering the Buddhist priesthood or as a symbolic act).
出家するために彼は頭を丸めた。
He shaved his head to enter the priesthood.
償いの意味で彼は自ら頭を丸めた。
As an act of atonement, he shaved his own head.
Archaic: to lump together or group several items into one (an older usage).
古い記録では、いくつかの領地を一緒に丸めると書かれている。
Old records state that several domains were lumped together.