Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense surrounds, present participle surrounding, past tense, past participle surrounded
1. verb
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. [beVERB-ed]
The shell surrounding the egg has many important functions. [VERB noun]
...the snipers and artillerymen in the surrounding hills. [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: enclose, ring, encircle, encompass More Synonyms of surround
2. verb
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. [beVERB-ed]
He tried to run away but gave up when he found himself surrounded. [VERB-ed]
Shooting broke out after the guards surrounded a villa in the city. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: besiege, beset, lay siege to, invest [rare] More Synonyms of surround
3. verb
The circumstances, feelings, or ideas which surround something are those that are closely associated with it.
The decision had been agreed in principle, but some controversy surrounded it. [VERB noun]
Once the euphoria surrounding this victory subsides, reality must return. [VERB noun]
4. verb
If you surroundyourselfwith certain people or things, you make sure that you have a lot of them near you all the time.
He surrounded himself with a hand-picked group of bright young officers. [V n + with/by]
They love being surrounded by familiar possessions. [beV-ed + with/by]
5. countable noun
The surround of something such as a fireplace is the border, wall, or shelves around it.
[mainly British]
...a small fireplace with a cast-iron surround.
Synonyms: border, edging, skirting, boundary More Synonyms of surround
6. plural noun
Your surrounds are your surroundings.
The entire team enjoyed hot showers in the spacious surrounds of a new, modern villagehall.
surround in British English
(səˈraʊnd)
verb(transitive)
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
noun
4. mainly British
a border, esp the area of uncovered floor between the walls of a room and the carpet or around an opening or panel
5. mainly US
a.
a method of capturing wild beasts by encircling the area in which they are believed to be
b.
the area so encircled
Derived forms
surrounding (surˈrounding)
adjective
Word origin
C15 surrounden to overflow, from Old French suronder, from Late Latin superundāre, from Latin super- + undāre to abound, from unda a wave
surround in American English
(səˈraʊnd)
verb transitive
1.
to cause to be encircled on all or nearly all sides
police surrounded the house
2.
a.
to form an enclosure around; encompass
a wall surrounds the city
b.
to be present on all or nearly all sides of; encircle
lush fields surround the cottage
3.
to enclose (a fort, military unit, etc.) with troops so as to cut off communication or retreat; invest
noun
4. Chiefly British
something serving as a border, etc.
Word origin
ME surrounden, altered (as if < sur-, sur-1 + round) < surunden, to overflow < OFr suronder < LL superundare < L super- (see super-) + undare, to move in waves, rise < unda, a wave (see water)
Examples of 'surround' in a sentence
surround
What hope for a city surrounded by the universal solvent?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
She was soon surrounded by a group of elderly women.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The small fence which surrounds his neatly pruned garden is lined with flowers and tributes.
The Sun (2007)
You see his assurance in the quality of the people he has surrounded himself with.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The swimming pool is set well down below a high retaining wall and surrounded by cypress hedges.
Page, Russell The Education of a Gardener (1994)
Bored with your plain wooden fireplace surround?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The uncertainty surrounding his role seems to infect his play.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Despite all the controversy surrounding the show it was a great final.
The Sun (2008)
They had surrounded the whole area with riot vans.
The Sun (2014)
So it was a new taste with all the familiar things surrounding it.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Why not surround the village and find out who is there?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Men out hunting discovered a cave surrounded by sick wild animals.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We walked along the miles of trenches which surrounded the city.
Andy Dougan THE HUNTING OF MAN (2004)
But the group surrounding a lion is the real focus of attention.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
One of the figures is seen making a hole in the fence that surrounds the property.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
We are surrounded by other people from the moment we are born.
The Sun (2016)
High flint walls surround it on sides and friendly trees from neighbouring offer shade and privacy.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Old sash windows and fireplace surrounds rescued from the same demolition site across the street were also put to new use.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Much controversy surrounds what happened next.
Harris, Marvin Cultural Anthropology (1995)
His exact cause of death is still to be established and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death arecurrently under investigation.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Courts must also consider all of the surrounding circumstances, including the social context in which the particular behavior occurs.
Christianity Today (2000)
The shackles of my physical body had faded away and instead I was free and floating above it, surrounded by a bright white light.
The Sun (2010)
In other languages
surround
British English: surround /səˈraʊnd/ VERB
If something or someone is surrounded by something, that thing is situated all around them.
...the fluid that surrounds the brain.
American English: surround
Arabic: يُحيطُ
Brazilian Portuguese: circundar
Chinese: 围绕
Croatian: okružiti
Czech: obklopit
Danish: omgive
Dutch: omringen
European Spanish: rodear
Finnish: ympäröidä
French: encercler
German: umgeben
Greek: περιβάλλω
Italian: circondare
Japanese: 囲む
Korean: 둘러싸다
Norwegian: omringe
Polish: otoczyć
European Portuguese: circundar
Romanian: a fi înconjurat
Russian: окружать
Latin American Spanish: rodear
Swedish: omringa
Thai: ล้อมรอบ
Turkish: çevreleyen
Ukrainian: оточувати
Vietnamese: vây quanh
Chinese translation of 'surround'
surround
(səˈraund)
vt
[walls, circumstances]围(圍)绕(繞) (wéirǎo)
[police, soldiers]包围(圍) (bāowéi)
to surround o.s. with people/things周围(圍)都是人/物 (zhōuwéi dōu shì rén/wù)
1 (verb)
Definition
to encircle or enclose (something or someone)
The church was surrounded by a rusted wrought-iron fence.
Synonyms
enclose
The land was enclosed by an eight-foot wire fence.
ring
The area is ringed by troops.
encircle
A forty-foot-high concrete wall encircles the jail.
encompass
Egypt is encompassed by the Mediterranean, Sudan, the Red Sea and Libya.
envelop
the thick black cloud of smoke that enveloped the area
close in on
fence in
girdle
The old town centre is girdled by a boulevard lined with trees.
hem in
environ
enwreath
2 (verb)
When the car stopped it was surrounded by police and militiamen.
Synonyms
besiege
The main part of the army moved to besiege the town.
beset
lay siege to
invest (rare)
(noun)
Definition
a border, such as the area of uncovered floor between the walls of a room and the carpet
a small fireplace with a cast-iron surround
Synonyms
border
Clifford is enjoying life north of the border.
edging
the satin edging on the blanket
skirting
boundary
Our organization now operates across national boundaries.
fringe
They lived together on the fringe of the campus.
perimeter
They walked round the perimeter of the stadium.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of boundary
Definition
something that indicates the farthest limit, such as of an area
Our organization now operates across national boundaries.
Synonyms
frontier,
edge,
border,
march,
barrier,
margin,
brink
in the sense of edging
Definition
anything placed along an edge for decoration
the satin edging on the blanket
Synonyms
border,
trimming,
fringe,
frill
in the sense of encircle
Definition
to form a circle round
A forty-foot-high concrete wall encircles the jail.
Synonyms
surround,
ring,
circle,
enclose,
encompass,
compass,
envelop,
girdle,
circumscribe,
hem in,
enfold,
environ,
gird in,
begird (poetic),
enwreath
Synonyms of 'surround'
surround
Explore 'surround' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of encompass
Definition
to enclose within a circle
Egypt is encompassed by the Mediterranean, Sudan, the Red Sea and Libya.
Synonyms
surround,
circle,
enclose,
close in,
envelop,
encircle,
fence in,
ring,
girdle,
circumscribe,
hem in,
shut in,
environ,
enwreath
in the sense of envelop
Definition
to cover, surround, or enclose
the thick black cloud of smoke that enveloped the area
Synonyms
enclose,
cover,
hide,
surround,
wrap around,
embrace,
blanket,
conceal,
obscure,
veil,
encompass,
engulf,
cloak,
shroud,
swathe,
encircle,
encase,
swaddle,
sheathe,
enfold,
enwrap
in the sense of environ
Synonyms
surround,
ring,
invest (rare),
enclose,
encompass,
besiege,
hem,
beset,
envelop,
encircle,
gird,
engird
in the sense of fringe
Definition
an outer edge
They lived together on the fringe of the campus.
Synonyms
edge,
limits,
border,
margin,
march,
marches,
outskirts,
perimeter,
periphery,
borderline
in the sense of girdle
Definition
to surround
The old town centre is girdled by a boulevard lined with trees.