Showing results for "surrounded"

• past tense form of surround.
• past participle of surround.

surrounded

American  

[suh-roun-did] / səˈraʊn dɪd /

adjective

1. (of troops, a fort or town, etc.) encircled or hemmed in by enemies on all sides so as to cut off communication or retreat.

   Only a few of the surrounded infantrymen survived, escaping in the darkness of the early morning.

2. enclosed or shut in on all sides, as by a barrier or border, desert or mountains, etc. (usually used in combination).

   The huge master bedroom features a granite-surrounded whirlpool tub.

   The surrounded parcel of land is provided with road access by a right-of-way through one of the encircling properties.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of surround.

Other Word Forms

• unsurrounded
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of surrounded

First recorded in 1590–1600, for an earlier sense; surround ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; surround ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Explanation

Are there people on every side of you, giving you no way to escape? Then you're surrounded. Sorry to hear it! Being surrounded is one way of being trapped, but it's a trap caused by other people. On TV shows, you'll often hear police officers say to a criminal: "Come out with your hands up. You're surrounded!" If a criminal is surrounded, then the police have every exit covered — there are police on all sides. If you look closely at surrounded, you'll see round in it — just picture that round circle trapping someone in, and you will remember the meaning of surrounded.

Example Sentences

Surrounded by company executives as he sat at his Oval Office desk, Trump said there would be "no negative impact" from the changes.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

Surrounded by her family and beloved horses, Bright says she is "at peace" with the decision to retire after what she describes as the most challenging two years of her life.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

Surrounded by friends who work in tech—many using automated coding programs—he started thinking about what he could automate at work.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Surrounded by dancers, the Italian rapper Ghali read an antiwar poem by Gianni Rodari.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026

Surrounded by grandparents and dozens of aunts and uncles and cousins, in a community where neighbors counted as family, pitching in when relatives couldn’t, Dorothy’s children’s lives would change very little.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• ringed