Surround Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms surround American [suh-round] / səˈraʊnd /

verb (used with object)

1. to enclose on all sides; encompass.

   She was surrounded by reporters.

2. to form an enclosure around; encircle.

   A stone wall surrounds the estate.

3. to enclose (a body of troops, a fort or town, etc.) so as to cut off communication or retreat.

noun

1. something that surrounds, as the area, border, etc., around an object or central space.

   a tile surround for the shower stall.

2. environment or setting.

   The designer created a Persian surround for the new restaurant.

3. Hunting.

   1. a means of hunting in which wild animals are encircled and chased into a special spot that makes their escape impossible.

   2. the act of hunting by this means.

   3. the location encircled by hunters using this means.

surround British / səˈraʊnd /

verb

1. to encircle or enclose or cause to be encircled or enclosed

2. to deploy forces on all sides of (a place or military formation), so preventing access or retreat

3. to exist around

   I dislike the people who surround her

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

1. a border, esp the area of uncovered floor between the walls of a room and the carpet or around an opening or panel

2. 1. a method of capturing wild beasts by encircling the area in which they are believed to be

   2. the area so encircled

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• presurround verb (used with object)
• surrounding adjective

Etymology

Origin of surround

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English surounden “to inundate, submerge,” from Anglo-French surounder, Middle French s(o)ronder, from Late Latin superundāre “to overflow,” equivalent to Latin super- super- + undāre “to flood,” derivative of unda “wave” ( undulate ); current spelling by analysis as sur- 1 + round 1 (verb)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Many surrounding streets have been dark since shortly after Christmas, Marton said.

From Los Angeles Times

Last year's Christmas card featured a family portrait that showed William and Catherine sitting on lush grass surrounded by spring daffodils, alongside their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

From BBC

But if that shock wave is too weak to eject the surrounding material, much of the star can fall back inward.

From Science Daily

Standard models propose that planets arise within a protoplanetary disc, a swirling cloud of gas and dust surrounding a young star.

From Science Daily

But the early euphoria surrounding Yunus's leadership gradually gave way to frustration at the scale of the task.

From Barron's

Related Words

• besiege
• circle
• envelop
• inundate
• ring

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.