circumscribe

[ sur-kuhm-skrahyb, sur-kuhm-skrahyb ]

/ ˈsɜr kəmˌskraɪb, ˌsɜr kəmˈskraɪb /

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See synonyms for: circumscribe / circumscribed / circumscribing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), cir·cum·scribed, cir·cum·scrib·ing.

to draw a line around; encircle: to circumscribe a city on a map.

to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, especially narrowly: Her social activities are circumscribed by school regulations.

to mark off; define; delimit: to circumscribe the area of a science.

Geometry.

to draw (a figure) around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible.
(of a figure) to enclose (another figure) in this manner.

OTHER WORDS FOR circumscribe

2 restrict, restrain, check, hamper, hinder.

See synonyms for circumscribe on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

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Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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Origin of circumscribe

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin circumscrībere, equivalent to circum-circum- + scrībere to write

OTHER WORDS FROM circumscribe

cir·cum·scrib·a·ble, adjectivecir·cum·scrib·er, nounnon·cir·cum·scribed, adjectiveun·cir·cum·scrib·a·ble, adjective

un·cir·cum·scribed, adjective

Words nearby circumscribe

circumocular, circumpolar, circumradius, circumrotate, circumscissile, circumscribe, circumscribed, circumscribed myxedema, circumscribed scleroderma, circumscript, circumscription

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use circumscribe in a sentence

So when the pandemic hit, he felt determined to do more than just ensure the survival of his restaurant — he wanted to embed more deeply in the neighborhood, albeit from within the tightly circumscribed framework of fine dining.
Does It Get Better For the Indie Fine Dining Restaurant?|Sara Sheridan|July 22, 2021|Eater
This kind of effect on memory is likely to be short term and circumscribed to the information the subjects saved onto the device.
Reports of a Baleful Internet Are Greatly Exaggerated - Issue 104: Harmony|Brian Gallagher|July 21, 2021|Nautilus
There is the man, who scared the living hell out of me, but the rage was about growing up in a world circumscribed by the reality of race.
Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. On The Fire This Time|Joshua Eferighe|May 28, 2021|Ozy
For travelers like me circumscribed by the pandemic, aromas offer the chance to revisit cherished journeys.
Aromas can evoke beloved journeys — or voyages not yet taken|Jen Rose Smith|February 11, 2021|Washington Post

Such is the unbearable situation created in a culture quick to judge, to expel and especially to circumscribe the lives of women.
‘Burnt Sugar,’ a challenging Booker Prize finalist, is hard to take, but harder to shake off|Ron Charles|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
Their opponents accepted the issue, and resolved to circumscribe the duke's inordinate powers.
History of the Rise of the Huguenots|Henry Baird
It is my wish to state it with precision and circumscribe its limits here at the very start.
Mysterious Psychic Forces|Camille Flammarion
A new spirit has now gone abroad which no walls can bound or circumscribe.
Revisiting the Earth|James Langdon Hill
This finally came to be so urgent that it even involved an effort to circumscribe the futile activities.
The Ordeal|Charles Egbert Craddock
Of a simple and solid edifice, it is not easy, however, to circumscribe the duration.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Edward Gibbon

British Dictionary definitions for circumscribe

circumscribe

/ (ˌsɜːkəmˈskraɪb, ˈsɜːkəmˌskraɪb) /

verb (tr)

to restrict within limits

to mark or set the bounds of

to draw a geometric construction around (another construction) so that the two are in contact but do not intersectCompare inscribe (def. 4)

to draw a line round

Derived forms of circumscribe

circumscribable, adjectivecircumscriber, noun

Word Origin for circumscribe

C15: from Latin circumscrībere, from circum- + scrībere to write

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

Scientific definitions for circumscribe

circumscribe

[ sûr′kəm-skrīb′ ]

To draw a figure around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible. A circle that is circumscribed around a triangle touches it at each of the triangle's three vertices.

circumscribe

OTHER WORDS FOR circumscribe

Origin of circumscribe

OTHER WORDS FROM circumscribe

Words nearby circumscribe

Words related to circumscribe

How to use circumscribe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for circumscribe

Derived forms of circumscribe

Word Origin for circumscribe

Scientific definitions for circumscribe