encompass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
encompasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encompassed,
past participle, past
-
encompassing
present participle
verb
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to enclose within a circle; surround
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to bring about; cause to happen; contrive
he encompassed the enemy's ruin
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to include entirely or comprehensively
this book encompasses the whole range of knowledge
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encompasssimple
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encompassessimple
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have encompassedperfect
-
has encompassedperfect
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am encompassingprogressive
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are encompassingprogressive
-
is encompassingprogressive
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have been encompassingperfect progressive
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has been encompassingperfect progressive
Past
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encompassedsimple
-
had encompassedperfect
-
was encompassingprogressive
-
were encompassingprogressive
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had been encompassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encompass
Explanation
Encompass means to contain. When you see the word, picture a campus which encompasses lecture halls, a football field, a medical center, a dining hall and some parking lots. Encompass can be used when talking about anything that contains something else. A lecture on Edward Hopper might encompass all aspects of his life and art, a work of art could encompass many techniques, and a policeman's jurisdiction may encompass an entire state. The continental U.S. encompasses 48 states. This entry encompasses many examples of the word encompass in use!
Vocabulary lists containing encompass
Born a Crime
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The Things They Carried
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
The board agreed to extend the review by one year at a time back to 2015, which would encompass up to 4,500 further cases and take an estimated five years to complete.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Forecasts from the Fed would benefit from scenarios that encompass the possibility that interest rates are signaling something more structural and lasting than a series of temporary shocks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
His most celebrated works encompass an array of ambitious themes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Stern says people will still be able to check multiple racial and ethnic identification boxes on forms to encompass all the ways they identify.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Nita stands beneath the glass chandelier and holds her arms out, wide, to encompass the room in her gesture.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
The country is home to four main kingdoms, the largest and most prominent being Buganda in the central region, which encompasses the capital Kampala.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Supernaw, whose council district encompasses the $65-million project, had reservations about the price tag before ultimately supporting it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The Topix is a broader index including domestic stocks, while the Nikkei encompasses only the top 225 companies.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Across the French Mediterranean coast, including Corsica, that zone encompasses about 1,700 kilometers of coastline, 187 towns, and at least 164,000 residents.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
New Guinea, though it accounts for only a small fraction of the world’s land area, encompasses a disproportionate fraction of its human diversity.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
"Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry," it said.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
That district had been Tennessee's 9th, which encompassed Memphis and was reliably won by Democrats.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
The area encompassed by the geofence can be larger than several football fields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
The deal encompassed a $1-billion investment by Disney in OpenAI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
Homer’s duties encompassed driving the team, sundry maintenance, and what Ridgeway termed “bookkeeping.”
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The debate about the appropriateness of wearing balaclavas in public places goes wider than e-bikes, encompassing anti-social behaviour, crime and some anti-immigration protests.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Edward Albee’s “The Play About the Baby,” which he saw when he was a freshman at NYU, was another work that showed him just how elastic and encompassing drama can be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The protected area is enormous, encompassing everything we could see through our binoculars from there.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
The 1858 oil painting presents a panoramic view of the Ecuadorian Andes encompassing the snow-capped volcanic peak at the top, blue glaciated ice below, and towering palm trees lower still.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
It is the Primary Social Cue for Iranians, encompassing hospitality and respect and politeness all in one.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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.
