Adjacent Words

Circumvent definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CIRCUMVENT, v.t. Literally, to come round; hence,
To gain advantage over another, or to accomplish a purpose, by arts, stratagem, or deception; to deceive; to prevail over another by wiles or fraud; to delude; to impose on.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: surround so as to force to give up; "The Turks besieged Vienna" [syn: besiege, beleaguer, surround, hem in, circumvent]
2: beat through cleverness and wit; "I beat the traffic"; "She outfoxed her competitors" [syn: outwit, overreach, outsmart, outfox, beat, circumvent]
3: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" [syn: hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenire, from circum- + venire to come — more at come Date: 1539 1. a. to hem in b. to make a circuit around 2. to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem <the setup circumvented the red tape — Lynne McTaggart> • circumvention noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a evade (a difficulty); find a way round. b baffle, outwit. 2 entrap (an enemy) by surrounding. Derivatives: circumvention n. Etymology: L circumvenire circumvent- (as CIRCUM-, venire come)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Circumvent Cir`cum*vent", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circumvented; p. pr. vb. n. Circumventing.] [L. circumventis, p. p. of circumvenire, to come around, encompass, deceive; circum + venire to come, akin to E. come.] To gain advantage over by arts, stratagem, or deception; to decieve; to delude; to get around. I circumvented whom I could not gain. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(circumvents, circumventing, circumvented) If someone circumvents a rule or restriction, they avoid having to obey the rule or restriction, in a clever and perhaps dishonest way. (FORMAL) Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty. = get round VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Thwart, check, check-mate, outgeneral. 2. Deceive, cheat, defraud, trick, cozen, overreach, delude, hoodwink, dupe, gull, bamboozle, chouse, outwit, beguile, mislead, inveigle, impose upon.

Moby Thesaurus

avoid, baffle, balk, bamboozle, beat, befool, beg, beguile, betray, bilk, blast, bluff, brave, burke, bypass, cajole, challenge, cheat on, checkmate, circle, circuit, circuiteer, circulate, circumambulate, circummigrate, circumnavigate, close the circle, come full circle, compass, confound, confront, conjure, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, cycle, dash, deceive, defeat, defy, delude, describe a circle, destroy, detour, diddle, disappoint, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, disrupt, ditch, double, double-cross, dupe, elude, encircle, encompass, escape, evade, flank, flummox, foil, forestall, frustrate, gammon, get around, get away from, get out of, get round, girdle, girdle the globe, give the runaround, give the slip, go about, go around, go one better, go round, go the round, gull, gyre, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, hornswaggle, humbug, juggle, knock the chocks, lap, let down, make a circuit, mock, nonplus, orbit, outfigure, outflank, outgeneral, outguess, outmaneuver, outplay, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, pass the buck, perplex, pigeon, play one false, put something over, revolve, round, ruin, sabotage, scotch, shake, shake off, shuffle out of, sidestep, skirt, snow, spike, spiral, spoil, stonewall, string along, stump, surround, take in, thwart, trick, two-time, upset, victimize, wheel