1 [count] a : a journey through the different parts of a country, region, etc.
▪ We went on a tour of Italy. ▪ They went on a driving tour of New England. ▪ a sightseeing tour ▪ We hired a tour guide. [=a person who takes people on trips through an area and explains the interesting details about it]
b : an activity in which you go through a place (such as a building or city) in order to see and learn about the different parts of it
▪ They went on a tour of the city. ▪ We were taken on a tour of/through the school. ▪ We went on a guided tour of the museum. ▪ They gave us a tour of their new house. ▪ We made a tour of the garden. [=we walked around the garden] ▪ a tour of inspection [=an activity in which someone goes through a place in order to see if things are in the proper condition] — see also grand tour 2 : a series of related performances, appearances, competitions, etc., that occur at different places over a period of time [count] ▪ a golf/book/concert tour [noncount] ▪ The band will be on tour [=traveling on a tour] for the next month. 3 [count] : a period of time during which someone (such as a soldier) is on duty or in a certain place
▪ during his tour in Vietnam ▪ He served a tour of duty in Germany.