Adjacent Words

Surround definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SURROUND', v.t. [sur and round.]
1. To encompass; to environ; to inclose on all sides; as, to surround a city. They surrounded a body of the enemy.
2. To lie or be on all sides of; as, a wall or ditch surrounds the city.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the area in which something exists or lives; "the country-- the flat agricultural surround" [syn: environment, environs, surroundings, surround] v
1: extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle; "The forest surrounds my property" [syn: surround, environ, ring, skirt, border]
2: envelop completely; "smother the meat in gravy" [syn: smother, surround]
3: surround so as to force to give up; "The Turks besieged Vienna" [syn: besiege, beleaguer, surround, hem in, circumvent]
4: surround with a wall in order to fortify [syn: wall, palisade, fence, fence in, surround]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, to flood, inundate, from Anglo-French surunder, from Late Latin superundare, to overflow, from Latin super- + unda wave; influenced in meaning by ⁵round — more at water Date: circa 1616 1. a. (1) to enclose on all sides ; envelop <the crowd surrounded her> (2) to enclose so as to cut off communication or retreat ; invest b. to form or be a member of the entourage of <flatterers who surround the king> c. to constitute part of the environment of <surrounded by poverty> d. to extend around the margin or edge of ; encircle <a wall surrounds the old city> 2. to cause to be surrounded by something <surrounded himself with friends> II. noun Date: 1893 something (as a border or ambient environment) that surrounds <from urban centre to rural surround — Emrys Jones>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 come or be all round; encircle, enclose. 2 (in passive; foll. by by, with) have on all sides (the house is surrounded by trees). --n. 1 Brit. a a border or edging, esp. an area between the walls and carpet of a room. b a floor-covering for this. 2 an area or substance surrounding something. Derivatives: surrounding adj. Etymology: ME = overflow, f. AF sur(o)under, OF s(o)uronder f. LL superundare (as SUPER-, undare flow f. unda wave)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Surround Sur*round", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Surrounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Surrounding.] [OF. suronder to overflow, LL. superundare; fr. L. super over + undare to rise in waves, overflow, fr. unda wave. The English sense is due to the influence of E. round. See Super-, and Undulate, and cf. Abound.] 1. To inclose on all sides; to encompass; to environ. 2. To lie or be on all sides of; to encircle; as, a wall surrounds the city. But could instead, and ever-during dark Surrounds me. --Milton. 3. To pass around; to travel about; to circumnavigate; as, to surround the world. [Obs.] --Fuller. 4. (Mil.) To inclose, as a body of troops, between hostile forces, so as to cut off means of communication or retreat; to invest, as a city. Syn: To encompass; encircle; environ; invest; hem in; fence about.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Surround Sur*round", n. A method of hunting some animals, as the buffalo, by surrounding a herd, and driving them over a precipice, into a ravine, etc. [U.S.] --Baird.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(surrounds, surrounding, surrounded) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If a person or thing is surrounded by something, that thing is situated all around them. The small churchyard was surrounded by a rusted wrought-iron fence... The shell surrounding the egg has many important functions. ...the snipers and artillerymen in the surrounding hills. VERB: be V-ed, V n, V-ing 2. If you are surrounded by soldiers or police, they spread out so that they are in positions all the way around you. When the car stopped in the town square it was surrounded by soldiers and militiamen... He tried to run away but gave up when he found himself surrounded... = encircle VERB: be V-ed, V-ed 3. The circumstances, feelings, or ideas which surround something are those that are closely associated with it. The decision had been agreed in principle before today's meeting, but some controversy surrounded it... VERB: V n 4. If you surround yourself with certain people or things, you make sure that you have a lot of them near you all the time. He had made it his business to surround himself with a hand-picked group of bright young officers... They love being surrounded by familiar possessions. VERB: V n with/by n, V n with/by n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Encircle, environ, encompass, enclose. 2. (Mil.) Invest, hem in, fence about.

Moby Thesaurus

ambiance, ambience, atmosphere, begird, beleaguer, beset, besiege, blockade, bound, box, box in, cage, carry, case, chamber, circle, circle in, circuit, circuiteer, circulate, circumambulate, circummigrate, circumnavigate, circumscribe, circumvent, close, close in, close the circle, come full circle, compass, compass about, comprise, confine, consume, contain, coop, coop in, coop up, cordon, cordon off, corral, cover, crate, cycle, define, delimit, delimitate, demarcate, describe a circle, determine, devour, dispatch, dispose of, divide, down, eat up, edge, embay, embed, embosom, embox, embrace, encapsulate, encase, encircle, enclasp, enclave, enclose, encompass, enfold, enshrine, enshroud, envelop, environ, environment, environs, enwrap, extend, fence in, fix, flank, fringe, get away with, get down, gird, girdle, girdle the globe, go, go about, go around, go out, go round, go the round, gyre, harass, harry, hedge in, hem, hem in, hold, house in, impound, imprison, incarcerate, include, ingest, internalize, invest, involve, jail, keep within, kennel, lap, lay off, lay siege to, leaguer, lie, limit, loop, make a circuit, margin, mark boundaries, mark off, mark out, mark the periphery, mew, mew up, orbit, outline, pack, package, pen, pen in, pocket, put away, put in, quarantine, rail in, range, reach, reach out, revolve, rim, ring, rope off, round, run, separate, set the limit, setting, sheathe, shrine, shroud, shut in, shut up, skirt, smother, soften up, span, specify, spiral, spread, stable, stake out, straddle, stretch, stretch out, surroundings, swaddle, swallow, swathe, sweep, take down, take in, thrust out, tuck in, verge, wall in, wheel, wrap, wrap about, wrap up, yard, yard up