surroundings
Britishplural noun
Explanation
Your surroundings are the things all around you. When you park your car in a huge lot, paying attention to your surroundings can help you find the car again later. You can use the noun surroundings to mean the nearby environment — all of the objects close by, as well as the location itself — and also the circumstances or conditions where you are. When someone builds a house, the surroundings will help determine which direction it will face and how many windows it will have. Surroundings stems from surround, "be all around," but originally "flood or overflow."
Vocabulary lists containing surroundings
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.
Before the virus was identified, it spread from herd to herd, infecting cattle and contaminating their surroundings.
From Science Daily • Jun. 23, 2026
It gave specific details about her home, as well as details about her bedroom and the home's surroundings, investigators told CBS.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
Augmented reality is a technology that overlays digital displays against real-world surroundings.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 17, 2026
That is, until an intriguing puzzle shakes up Felix’s otherwise sleepy summer and prods him to pay attention to his surroundings in a new way.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
The dogs are trotting down the sidewalk, surveying their surroundings with wide eyes and pink tongues lolling in the breeze.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
